What's wrong with me?
Really. I opened blogspot--for the first time in almost two years--this morning to set up a new page for my book club. I spent the next hour reading old posts and "remembering" funny/sad/heartfelt moments from years past and wondering why I quit writing these things down.
I will regret it. I already do.
Case in point: the kids have now been up for less than 5 minutes and they've all already made me smile and sigh.
Lucy instantly complained that someone messed up Crystal's bed (her tiny stuffed pink wolf)... "I don't know who it was. Maybe the L-U-C-Y ghost??" Where does she get this stuff?!
Jonah and Jackson went immediately to the glass door to see if there was snow and whispered their shouts of excitement to each other, so they wouldn't wake up Lucy (who was already up, but they didn't know that). When Jackson turned around and saw me in the living room chair (I'm usually in the kitchen and/or laundry room when they get up), he squealed and ran toward me in his most excited fashion: with one arm spinning around bicycle-style... then he jumped over the chair arm and onto my lap.
Jonah, grinning ear-to-ear, climbed on top of both of us and said he just loved foggy, snowy days and hoped it would stay this way all day. "It's just beautiful outside!"
Smile. Sigh.
Since I haven't checked in for a looong time, I have a million things to say--like usual--but I'll stop here because I know the main reason I never write is because it takes too long. Well. Normal people don't spend two hours writing a few paragraphs, like I do. Their posts might not always be perfect, but they're entertaining and informative and they have wonderful chronicles of their good times and stories. I don't.
Maybe my resolution this year will be writing/updating once a month? Even if no one reads blogs anymore (see?? Facebook really is the devil!), I'll have the stories later on for myself and the kids.
Okay... so if anyone is actually reading this, Merry Christmas! You might get a card from me in a few weeks... or I'll quit halfway through, like I usually do, and end up wondering what to do with the 50 leftover cards next December. Isn't the suspense thrilling??
Happy Snow Day!!
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Finally, Some News!!
If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you received a Christmas card from us this year. There’s also a good chance you were surprised to discover that we still didn’t know where Brad planned to get a “real” job in July, when he reaches the end of his journey to become a physician. The process included four years of undergrad, four years of medical school, one year of internship, four years of active duty in the Air Force, three years of ophthalmology residency, and one year of cornea fellowship.
Yep, folks, that’s 17 years. Time to get a job. I’m sure Brad would maintain that there were phases of his training that were possibly more grueling than the experience of finding a job, but from my perspective this last year has been the worst. Here’s a recap:
January 2010
Brad finalizes his vita and begins to narrow down his focus.
We realize that he doesn’t know
(1) what kind of work he’d like to do… general or cornea specialist
(2) whether he’s looking for a private or academic position
(3) what size of group…solo, 2 or 3…8-10…40… university
(4) oh, and where our family should try to settle. 50 states.
February
Brad applies for an advertised cornea specialist position at a huge group in Albuquerque and cold-calls a medium-sized group in Boise (our first choice, by far).
March
He hears back from Albuquerque. “You seem like a good fit, but we want to hire before July 2011.” He hears from Boise, “Oh wow! We’ve been thinking of adding a cornea specialist! We’ll get you out here for an interview, just to make sure, but…great!”
April
May
June
Brad graduates from residency. The family moves to Baltimore. Serious discussions begin. Tension begins to mount. Where to go? What do I want to do???? If only our families weren’t so far from each other… and in sucky states. He sends a second, larger batch of resumes, mostly to advertised openings.
July
August
He is offered interviews in
Kalamazoo, MI (solo, wanting to retire)
Portland, Maine, (multispecialty private group of 8)
Eugene, OR (solo, wanting to retire)
Albuquerque (huge group, where no one apparently has filled that cornea spot)
A few others around the country start recruiting him, including
St. Louis (private practice with 2 or 3)
Detroit (University Cornea Specialist)
There are academic cornea spots open in
Oklahoma City (near my family) and
Morgantown, WV (near Brad’s family)
September
He gets a surprising email from the program director at Penn State. “Brad, I’m not sure I can make it happen, but you would come back to Penn Sate if we offered you a position??”
He goes to Eugene, OR, for his first official interview. That’s a story for another post altogether… let’s just say for now…. Weird, weird, weird, freaky, creaky, bizarre. No.
He receives an email from Traverse City Michigan (where?!) inviting him for a phone interview with another solo guy wanting to retire. Agrees to talk, but only because the Eugene experience, while quite strange, showed him that solo might be doable under the right circumstances.
October
He interviews with a few places and entertains the possibility of various positions. Narrows them down to Albuquerque (awesome practice, cornea specialist, lots of money) and Traverse City, MI (WHERE?!), with some hope remaining that he could also return to Penn State.
End of October
Brad and I visit Traverse City and absolutely fall in love with the area and the practice.
November
TC sends a contract!!!
We freak out because the contract is a bit strange and confusing and goes into detail about Brad buying the practice. We decide to turn them down and focus on Albuquerque.
December
TC offers to delete 2/3 of contract and bring Brad on as an associate, with no obligation to purchase the practice.
Brad interviews in Albuquerque. Loves the practice, thinks the people are great, decides he wants the security of a large group, chooses being a cornea specialist. Plans to accept the job.
Albuquerque calls!! With…not a job offer, as expected, but a decision to change the job into a LASEK spot (corrective laser "surgery") rather than a cornea job.
5 minutes later (literally!!!)
Traverse City calls.
Instead of politely declining the job, Brad agrees to a second interview.
January 2011
Penn State gets back to him, “hey Brad! We’re still working on getting that position. Would love to have you here!”
He goes on a second interview in Traverse City. Loves the area even more in winter and begins to get used to the idea of possibly running his own multi-million dollar practice with 30 employees.
February
Negotiations continue with Traverse City. More bumps in the road. More confusion and frustration.
Penn State calls, “Brad! I’ve got a meeting this week to see if we have the funding! I’ll let you know!”
Middle of February
He hears nothing from Penn State.
Traverse City finally works out all of the kinks and we reach an agreement that is satisfactory to all involved. Our lawyer signs off on it.
February 18
Brad formally accepts the position in Traverse City.
Today
A paper contract should arrive in the mail. Once Brad signs it, we are officially
MOVING TO TRAVERSE CITY MICHIGAN!!!!
Thank you a million times to all of you who have given advice, support, information, encouragement, etc, over the years and this last year in particular. When I get around to posting another entry, I’ll tell you a bit more about Traverse City and why we love it.
Ahhhhhhhhhhhh.
Feels good.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Facebook is the Devil
So I'm quitting Facebook.
I mean, doesn't it annoy you, too? I thought all of the social networking was great when I first discovered it. Who wouldn't want to stay in touch more easily with more friends and have more people interested in your goings-on? Especially for those of us who move frequently or travel often, which is pretty much everyone I know, Facebook seems like a great thing. And it was. At first.
But now I feel it has gone over to the dark side, at least for me. I should take a moment to assure my faithful readers that I have absolutely no judgment whatsoever toward people who continue to use Facebook, even extensively. It's fun! It's neat to be in touch with tons of people, both near and far. It's validating to find out that everyone in America is experiencing that same stomach virus. And there are people who I really liked at one time, but out of laziness, busy-ness, or just the reality of the passing of time, have lost touch with and now I have a way of tracking them down and vice-versa.
Case in point: I recently connected with an acquaintance from the school where I taught from 1997-2001. (Wow. Has a decade really gone by since I pulled out of Houston in a yellow truck, a newlywed, heading for Cleveland?) It was really great to catch up with this girl from my old school and hear a bit of gossip from down south. She's even, like me, married to a doctor and has preschool-aged children, which means we probably have a lot in common. Now, the two of us were never BFF and even had our differences sometimes, but I respected and admired her and enjoyed hearing how her life has continued since we parted ways. I looked forward to being back in touch with that part of my life.
At this point, you're probably thinking, "So what's the problem? Sounds great to reconnect. You're so fortunate to have people in your life whom you enjoy spending virtual time with!" And you're right, I am fortunate. VERY. And please don't think for a moment that that is lost on me or that I'm ungrateful for the dozens of amazing people who take time to communicate with me. I love it. I enjoy it. I'm entertained by it. I'm kept from being lonely and it's made it seem reasonable that I have no actual friends in my one-year, transitional residence in Baltimore. In fact, if anyone is actually reading this post, it's someone important from my history (or a nosey random stranger spying on my blog... if that's you, bug off!). Hello there--good to "see" you.
Okay, I'll get on with my diatribe already. Here's the problem: my brain is already pretty full with personal stuff. Maybe it's not exciting or even interesting in there, but there are a million decisions and thoughts about my 3 active young children; memories of my family, who are all far away; thoughts of my family-in-law, who are also far away; worries about The Job (that's another blog altogether); concerns about money; guilt about a messy house and an uncooked dinner; confusion about how to make it to the grocery store with 3 kids, since I (still) have an absentee husband; worry about my kids' development, etc etc etc. Every mom out there is nodding and agreeing that there's a lot to think about all day every day, even if you're not really doing anything at all. Like I said, it's not big stuff, but it's pretty consuming.
So what am I doing adding guilt to the mix for not writing back to the girl in Houston and catching her up on MY life for the last decade? And why do I find myself wanting to send her an email and ask her opinion on the search for a physician job, even though I haven't talked to her in 10 years and she knows nothing about me or my husband? Along those lines, why do I care that the girl I knew in youth group is having a bad Monday? Like she does every Monday. Is it worth giving up the brain-bytes to process the knowledge that a friend of a friend who I met once at a party is on their way to Starbucks?
REALLY?????? THIS is how I'm using my left-over thoughts and time?? That can't be right. Are there really 276 people whose weekends I need to know about? Should I really spend the spare 3 minutes I have between changing a diaper and starting a load of laundry commenting on the fact that so-and-so in such-and-such country thought the Daily Show last night was funny? (It was, but that's beside the point.) Furthermore, should I entertain myself while driving by mentally composing my new status to include something about how ridiculous it is that school was cancelled today even though there was barely a light dusting of snow on the grass? Furthermore, should the girl whose brother was in my brother's high school class CARE about MY irritation today??
No. Pure and simple. No. They shouldn't. I shouldn't. It's too much!!!!! Stop the madness!
Here's my proposal: How about starting another site called Monthbook. Or Yearbook (course that already has another meaning...) or Tenminutebook? People are allowed to log in up to once a month, for up to ten minutes, to find out what everyone in their conscious memory is doing. Or they can check in for an hour once a year to find out the big stuff like new babies, moves, new professions, etc. We used to do that in Christmas cards, you know. I noticed this year, though, that update letters were much more uncommon than they were during the years after mass computer-generated paper messages, but before social networking. I assume it's because everyone is on Facebook now and they know that everyone already knows what they've been up to, so why annoy people with even more factoids about how they spent their (mostly uninteresting) year?
I'm done ranting. But I felt I needed to explain why I've gone inactive on Facebook. To the few people who take time to read my thoughts on the matter, even though their brains are already full of their own, possibly very important thoughts. And then we're back to the beginning. Why are we all doing this to ourselves?? And why are you still reading this???
If you are happily doing the Facebook thing, great. I hope it's a wonderful blessing for you, as it is for millions and millions of people. It just isn't working for me anymore because of my personality and who I am. (It's me, not you...) When people can tune in occasionally when they really do have some free time, it's a fantastic way to keep up with people they really care about, even if it does mean managing all of the extra annoyances that come along with that, like hoping your potential employer doesn't find those pics of you falling-down drunk at your nephew's Bar Mitzvah.
And I've now exceeded, by far, my own 10-minute limit of ignoring my children in order to post my random, uninteresting, and possibly controversial thoughts about the world of virtual communication.
Ironic, don't you think?!
Thanks for tuning in. Comments are welcome, but please don't make a comment on my Facebook page so the entire world (my entire world) knows what you think of me.
Trust me: they don't care.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Not Really Back., but Feeling Guilty
Hey all!
I haven't written in months and months and now it's been so long that I feel like I have to write something fabulous and post wonderful pics to make up for my ridiculous absence.
It's not going to happen, though (partly because the computer with all the photos is in the shop for a while) so I'm just going to bite the bullet and post a few sentences, sans-photos, sans-humor. It's faster that way and maybe I'll get back in the saddle without all the pressure of posting something grand. Maybe???
So, if anyone is tuning in... you might wonder what's up with us...here's what's been going on:
That's it in a nutshell! The kids are all amazing: Jonah is intense and funny and smart, Jackson is a sweetie pie and the class clown, and Lucy is chubby and laughy and adorable and sweet. Love them!!!!
Okay... now the pressure's off... I can post when I want and whatever I want because it hasn't been 8 months, right?
Hope everyone is doing GREAT!!!!!
Thanks for tuning in...
I haven't written in months and months and now it's been so long that I feel like I have to write something fabulous and post wonderful pics to make up for my ridiculous absence.
It's not going to happen, though (partly because the computer with all the photos is in the shop for a while) so I'm just going to bite the bullet and post a few sentences, sans-photos, sans-humor. It's faster that way and maybe I'll get back in the saddle without all the pressure of posting something grand. Maybe???
So, if anyone is tuning in... you might wonder what's up with us...here's what's been going on:
- All chaos, all the time
- Jackson's 3rd birthday was 2 weeks ago!!!
- Lucy's birthday is this Saturday!!! Can't believe it!
- I'm more than a little depressed to say goodbye to the baby days. I'll shake it eventually, but it's been a rough few weeks, emotionally.
- Jonah's 5th birthday is in two weeks!!
- (yep, in case you weren't already aware, we have birthdays every-other-week in nov/early dec)
- Brad has been crazy busy on the interview trail, but he's finally done
- Match Day is December 8 and we'll find out then if/where he'll complete a fellowship year (starting in July)
- I know I'll sound like a stupid whiner for saying this, but Brad has been working, traveling, or on call for the better part of 2 months and we're ready for a break.
- We are excited to move on, but are already sad to leave our friends here in central PA
- We are fairly self-absorbed (as usual) and really excited/worried/confused about where to pursue a "real" job and start our (hopeful) permanent life. What pressure!! We would LOVE some advice!!! Where would you go if you could pick anywhere in the USA? (Not that we can take our pick, but we have to start somewhere, so why not shoot for the stars??)
That's it in a nutshell! The kids are all amazing: Jonah is intense and funny and smart, Jackson is a sweetie pie and the class clown, and Lucy is chubby and laughy and adorable and sweet. Love them!!!!
Okay... now the pressure's off... I can post when I want and whatever I want because it hasn't been 8 months, right?
Hope everyone is doing GREAT!!!!!
Thanks for tuning in...
Friday, March 20, 2009
A Perfect Day... For Reals!
I know it's been a while since I've updated my blog, and I apologize to the one person who actually logs on from time to time (JH). It's not that I haven't had anything to say and not even that I haven't had time. Really, I waste hours every day. I don't even know what I do with my time. But I don't do anything productive, like updating my blog. That's not what this entry is about, though, so I'll move on.
We had a Perfect Day a couple of weeks ago. We really did. Don't brace yourself for the punchline: there's none.
We had a Perfect Day a couple of weeks ago. We really did. Don't brace yourself for the punchline: there's none.Brad spent about a week in Philadelphia for a review course and my awesome brother Tod came to visit during that time. He was overdue for a visit anyway, so I talked him into coming while I could use an extra hand around the house. Since I had an extra person to help, we decided to head over to Philly for the day. I had heard there was a great children's museum there and I thought we might actually get to see Brad while we were there, too.
Now, most of my stories have something to do with how everything goes wrong, how I can't believe the crazy antics of my kiddos--especially the two bigger ones--or how my life is completely spinning out of control. It seems to be entertaining to everyone, so I will continue with my typical self-deprecating style next entry. I'm almost always good for a laugh and an "at-least-I'm-not-HER" now and then, right?!
But this isn't that kind of story. In fact, I hesitate to go into much detail because anyone who reads this will be jealous and think I've somehow gotten my act together. NOT TRUE! I'll preview the story by saying this: everything
went exactly the way it was supposed to. Really. I'm not making it up. If you're not interested in reading about our amazing experience (because you're not going to end this with a feeling of supperiority as you realize your stories are never as embarrassing as ours), stop reading now.
Here it is:
Now, most of my stories have something to do with how everything goes wrong, how I can't believe the crazy antics of my kiddos--especially the two bigger ones--or how my life is completely spinning out of control. It seems to be entertaining to everyone, so I will continue with my typical self-deprecating style next entry. I'm almost always good for a laugh and an "at-least-I'm-not-HER" now and then, right?!
But this isn't that kind of story. In fact, I hesitate to go into much detail because anyone who reads this will be jealous and think I've somehow gotten my act together. NOT TRUE! I'll preview the story by saying this: everything
went exactly the way it was supposed to. Really. I'm not making it up. If you're not interested in reading about our amazing experience (because you're not going to end this with a feeling of supperiority as you realize your stories are never as embarrassing as ours), stop reading now.Here it is:
We were able to get out of the house without anyone shedding tears. We left a mere 20 minutes late (anyone with kids knows this is HUGE). There was no line at Starbucks. The address of the children's museum didn't come up on the GPS, but when I searched for it by name, it did. Even better! We made it onto the turnpike and all the way into Philly without incident. Until we drove up in front of the "museum." It was a run-down, apparently abandoned building with a faded sign that read "Please Touch Museum." Since this isn't a typical Hochstetler story, you won't be surprised that I had a vague memory of a random checkout clerk at a grocery store telling me sometime last year that the museum had moved into a new building. I called the museum (yes, I remembered to write the number down and I even remembered to bring it with me) and found out they changed the name of the road it's on and I was able to bring it up on the GPS after all.
Here's the part of the story when I would usually go into great detail about how I drove around in circles while yelling at the GPS and begging Jonah to just be quiet for ONE MINUTE of his LIFE while I figured out how to maneuver out of the horrible traffic jam/accidient/construction/confusing roads in order to get where we were going. That didn't happen. None of it. We changed our course and arrived without confusion at the new and improved museum about 10 minutes later. There was free on-the-street parking right in front of the building. Jonah made it all the way into the restroom before he pottied. Jackson, Jonah AND Lucy sat patiently while I didn't wait in line--because there wasn't one. They accepted credit cards (no one carries that much cash, believe me), we got our tickets, and walked right in.
The kids played. They investigated. They cooperated. They shared (except when a little girl got ahold of Henry a couple of times: Jackson freaked out and I had to intervene). They remained pleasant in spite of skipping naps. We ate lunch there and didn't drop any slices of pizza on the floor and we didn't even spill milk all over our clothes. I expected everyone to lose it by 3 at the latest, but they were still having fun at 4, so we headed over to Brad's hotel.
When we got there, we went swimming. I even remembered to pack ALL of our bathing suits! There was a kiddy pool. What hotel has a kiddy pool?! When Brad finished for the day, he joined us and we all swam for a while. Jackson, who absolutely hates swimming, jumped in over and over, including one time when Brad wasn't even looking, but that's another story.
After we swam, we cleaned up and got dressed for dinner. We found an On the Border online (our favorite chain restaurant!). We called ahead to reserve a table and waited only about 20 minutes to be seated. The food was awesome and there was--get this--a girl walking around making balloon shapes. I'm not kidding! Jonah got a Spiderman and Jackson got a penguin. We finished dinner, headed back to the hotel to drop Brad off, found our way out of Philly in the dark and all the way back to Harrisburg without a flat tire, traffic jam, or getting lost. We finally arrived home around 12:30 am and the kids all got their pjs on and went back to sleep without a fuss.
I'm serious. That was our day. I couldn't possibly make this up.
There were only two dark spots (that's the opposite of bright spots, right? Even though no one says it) in our day. The first was at the restaurant, when we heard a loud POP and looked over to see the most painful look of horror a 4-year-old is capable of on Jonah's face. Fortunately, Tod had tipped the balloon girl really well, so when she heard the POP and ensuing wail coming from our table, she was there in about 30 seconds to replace Spiderman's destroyed head.
And when we were headed back to the hotel to drop Brad off, we were suprised to come suddenly upon a toll booth as we re-entered Pennsylvania. The toll was four dollars and we absolutely could not scrape it together, mostly because Tod spent his last five bucks on getting a new head for Spiderman. The booth attendant was completely unsympathetic and really had no solution for us. We finally talked her into taking our license number and letting us through so we could get some money and return to pay.
That's it: there's no twist or surprise ending. That was our Perfect Day.
But you might log in next week to see if there's a photo of Brad in handcuffs when he's arrested for failure to pay a toll. We could be in serious trouble if they had secret cameras and tracked us down even though we gave the wrong license number and most certainly did not return to pay the lousy toll. Oops!
Here's the part of the story when I would usually go into great detail about how I drove around in circles while yelling at the GPS and begging Jonah to just be quiet for ONE MINUTE of his LIFE while I figured out how to maneuver out of the horrible traffic jam/accidient/construction/confusing roads in order to get where we were going. That didn't happen. None of it. We changed our course and arrived without confusion at the new and improved museum about 10 minutes later. There was free on-the-street parking right in front of the building. Jonah made it all the way into the restroom before he pottied. Jackson, Jonah AND Lucy sat patiently while I didn't wait in line--because there wasn't one. They accepted credit cards (no one carries that much cash, believe me), we got our tickets, and walked right in.
The kids played. They investigated. They cooperated. They shared (except when a little girl got ahold of Henry a couple of times: Jackson freaked out and I had to intervene). They remained pleasant in spite of skipping naps. We ate lunch there and didn't drop any slices of pizza on the floor and we didn't even spill milk all over our clothes. I expected everyone to lose it by 3 at the latest, but they were still having fun at 4, so we headed over to Brad's hotel.
When we got there, we went swimming. I even remembered to pack ALL of our bathing suits! There was a kiddy pool. What hotel has a kiddy pool?! When Brad finished for the day, he joined us and we all swam for a while. Jackson, who absolutely hates swimming, jumped in over and over, including one time when Brad wasn't even looking, but that's another story.After we swam, we cleaned up and got dressed for dinner. We found an On the Border online (our favorite chain restaurant!). We called ahead to reserve a table and waited only about 20 minutes to be seated. The food was awesome and there was--get this--a girl walking around making balloon shapes. I'm not kidding! Jonah got a Spiderman and Jackson got a penguin. We finished dinner, headed back to the hotel to drop Brad off, found our way out of Philly in the dark and all the way back to Harrisburg without a flat tire, traffic jam, or getting lost. We finally arrived home around 12:30 am and the kids all got their pjs on and went back to sleep without a fuss.
I'm serious. That was our day. I couldn't possibly make this up.
There were only two dark spots (that's the opposite of bright spots, right? Even though no one says it) in our day. The first was at the restaurant, when we heard a loud POP and looked over to see the most painful look of horror a 4-year-old is capable of on Jonah's face. Fortunately, Tod had tipped the balloon girl really well, so when she heard the POP and ensuing wail coming from our table, she was there in about 30 seconds to replace Spiderman's destroyed head.
And when we were headed back to the hotel to drop Brad off, we were suprised to come suddenly upon a toll booth as we re-entered Pennsylvania. The toll was four dollars and we absolutely could not scrape it together, mostly because Tod spent his last five bucks on getting a new head for Spiderman. The booth attendant was completely unsympathetic and really had no solution for us. We finally talked her into taking our license number and letting us through so we could get some money and return to pay.
That's it: there's no twist or surprise ending. That was our Perfect Day.
But you might log in next week to see if there's a photo of Brad in handcuffs when he's arrested for failure to pay a toll. We could be in serious trouble if they had secret cameras and tracked us down even though we gave the wrong license number and most certainly did not return to pay the lousy toll. Oops!
I guess if that happens, you can all laugh at us and celebrate that little bit of Karma that headed our way because we rejoiced over our Perfect Day. And you can all go back to thinking your life isn't so bad compared to ours.
Til then, safe travels, everyone!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Christmas Gift
Brad's office gave him a Christmas gift of $100. I thought that was very nice and mentioned to my mom that we were adding it to our other money gifts and trying to decide how to spend our little pot of cash.
She said I should let Brad spend the $100 on anything he wanted. I agreed and brought it up this morning. Here's how the conversation went:
Tara: My mom said you should get to keep your $100 and spend it on whatever you want.
Brad: Okay. (smiles)
Tara: I mean, you're the one who puts up with all their crap every day, so you should get to keep the money.
Brad: Cool. (chuckles)
Tara: Of course, WE put up with a lot of crap because of them, too...
Brad: Yeah, you do! Maybe you should keep the money and spend it on whatever YOU want.
Tara: Awesome! Thanks.
Happy New Year, Faithful Readers!!
She said I should let Brad spend the $100 on anything he wanted. I agreed and brought it up this morning. Here's how the conversation went:
Tara: My mom said you should get to keep your $100 and spend it on whatever you want.
Brad: Okay. (smiles)
Tara: I mean, you're the one who puts up with all their crap every day, so you should get to keep the money.
Brad: Cool. (chuckles)
Tara: Of course, WE put up with a lot of crap because of them, too...
Brad: Yeah, you do! Maybe you should keep the money and spend it on whatever YOU want.
Tara: Awesome! Thanks.
Happy New Year, Faithful Readers!!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
"Don't you just love New York in the fall?
It makes me want to buy school supplies.
If I knew your address, I'd send you
a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils."
--Tom Hanks (as Joe Fox) in You've Got Mail
If I knew your address, I'd send you
a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils."
--Tom Hanks (as Joe Fox) in You've Got Mail
Who doesn't love fall, right? It almost seems like a cliche' to extol its virtues. So I find that I'm one of those people who goes around saying--as if can can somehow convince everyone--no, I REALLY love fall!
I don't usually go into all the reasons why I like fall so much, partly because they're mostly very obvious, but for some reason I feel compelled today to explain myself. I always felt richest and happiest in the cooling, crisp, leaves-turning-brilliant autumn, but in the fall of 2000, September and October earned their places in my personal history as Best Months Ever.
You see, I fell in love that fall. And not just a little bit in love, but in the kind of love you read about in books and see in movies. The kind of love that takes your breath away and makes you stay up all night just so you can keep experiencing it. The kind of love that makes you want to become immortal so you can spend eternity with your vampire boyfriend. (Okay, that last part was just to see if you're still reading... and to admit that I'm just a bit over the top with the Twilight series.)
Brad and I met in late July because of a wedding. I was living in Houston and he was in Cleveland. I traveled to Ohio for a friend's wedding... she was from Ohio, but we taught at the same school in Houston. I won't go into great detail here, but it was definitely love at first sight. I actually had one of those epiphany-like moments when I first looked at him and thought something along the lines of "This could be the first glimpse of the rest of my life." No kidding.
We didn't start dating immediately, but it was pretty obvious--to us and everyone else--that we hit it off. We were like silly teenagers, laughing uncontrollably and tuning out everyone else. We were giddy. I saw Brad twice that weekend and somehow knew that we would become best friends. He came to visit Houston about a month later and I decided then that I was falling head-over-heels in love with him and that I wanted to be more than friends. He later told me of the exact moment that he decided (during that weekend) I was The One.
We spent the next six weeks talking on the phone as much as possible and e-mailing nearly every day. We never actually established that it was a courtship, but it was about as old-fashioned (if you can call talking on the phone and e-mailing old-fashioned) of a courtship as possible. Within those six weeks, we covered every imaginable topic except, of course, whether we were actually interested in each other romantically. I finally got up the nerve to ask if I could visit him during my fall break and we spent the last couple of weeks before then making plans.
I've never been so nervous in my life! Here I was, completely, hopelessly, ridiculously in love with a guy who never even told me if he was interested in more than friendship. Just before I left for my trip, my 6th grade students were giving me advice on how to let him know I LIKED him. My favorite was Shannette, who said I should "Put on a nice dress--not a hoochie mama dress or nothin--and take him out to a romantic dinner."
When he picked me up at the airport, I had a pretty strong indication that he was feeling the same way. He handed me a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils and I knew he was just as smitten:
Of course I would like to go on and on about that wonderful weekend, but my purpose in writing this was to share my extra-special love for this season. In addition to all the other things that I enjoy about this time of year, I have the precious memories of falling in love with my best friend. The best part: he fell in love with me too.
I don't usually go into all the reasons why I like fall so much, partly because they're mostly very obvious, but for some reason I feel compelled today to explain myself. I always felt richest and happiest in the cooling, crisp, leaves-turning-brilliant autumn, but in the fall of 2000, September and October earned their places in my personal history as Best Months Ever.
You see, I fell in love that fall. And not just a little bit in love, but in the kind of love you read about in books and see in movies. The kind of love that takes your breath away and makes you stay up all night just so you can keep experiencing it. The kind of love that makes you want to become immortal so you can spend eternity with your vampire boyfriend. (Okay, that last part was just to see if you're still reading... and to admit that I'm just a bit over the top with the Twilight series.)
Brad and I met in late July because of a wedding. I was living in Houston and he was in Cleveland. I traveled to Ohio for a friend's wedding... she was from Ohio, but we taught at the same school in Houston. I won't go into great detail here, but it was definitely love at first sight. I actually had one of those epiphany-like moments when I first looked at him and thought something along the lines of "This could be the first glimpse of the rest of my life." No kidding.
We didn't start dating immediately, but it was pretty obvious--to us and everyone else--that we hit it off. We were like silly teenagers, laughing uncontrollably and tuning out everyone else. We were giddy. I saw Brad twice that weekend and somehow knew that we would become best friends. He came to visit Houston about a month later and I decided then that I was falling head-over-heels in love with him and that I wanted to be more than friends. He later told me of the exact moment that he decided (during that weekend) I was The One.
We spent the next six weeks talking on the phone as much as possible and e-mailing nearly every day. We never actually established that it was a courtship, but it was about as old-fashioned (if you can call talking on the phone and e-mailing old-fashioned) of a courtship as possible. Within those six weeks, we covered every imaginable topic except, of course, whether we were actually interested in each other romantically. I finally got up the nerve to ask if I could visit him during my fall break and we spent the last couple of weeks before then making plans.
I've never been so nervous in my life! Here I was, completely, hopelessly, ridiculously in love with a guy who never even told me if he was interested in more than friendship. Just before I left for my trip, my 6th grade students were giving me advice on how to let him know I LIKED him. My favorite was Shannette, who said I should "Put on a nice dress--not a hoochie mama dress or nothin--and take him out to a romantic dinner."
When he picked me up at the airport, I had a pretty strong indication that he was feeling the same way. He handed me a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils and I knew he was just as smitten:
Of course I would like to go on and on about that wonderful weekend, but my purpose in writing this was to share my extra-special love for this season. In addition to all the other things that I enjoy about this time of year, I have the precious memories of falling in love with my best friend. The best part: he fell in love with me too.Tuesday, October 7, 2008
More Random Trivia from Jonah
Jonah (at the park... no apparent context involved):
Daddy! Did you know female praying mantises eat their husbands?!?
Daddy! Did you know female praying mantises eat their husbands?!?
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
A New Low
So... I forgot to feed one of my kids lunch today. The worst part--other than the forgetting-to-feed-my-kid part--is... I didn't even realize it until about 9 pm, when Brad and I were about to sit down to our dinner after putting the kids to bed. A quick aside: We ate that late because Jonah had soccer practice tonight. I was so proud of myself for getting supper in the oven beforehand and setting the timer, so we could arrive back home to a pre-prepared, home-cooked meal. Unfortunately, I must have set the timer wrong, because it was all still uncooked when we got home! So we fed the kids (Brad did it, so I'm pretty sure they both got food that time) and put them to bed while our supper was cooking. Brad opened the freezer to get ice for his drink and wondered aloud, "Whoa, whose corndogs are these?!"
Yeah. A perfect end to a perfect day. I was thinking of writing about my day anyway, but didn't have the energy and, well, it's not really that good of a story; just one of those nothing-went-right kind of days. It was just a crappy day.
But when I realized that I actually FORGOT to feed one of my kids, I thought I should take the time to make that information public. Maybe it will make someone laugh, or at least feel better about herself as a mom. In that case, it's worth the humiliation of revealing yet another Worst Mom story.
Evidently, I microwaved his nasty, processed, frozen corndogs in the microwave and stuck them in the freezer to cool off before giving them to him--like I do every meal (with variations on the type of frozen food, of course). Who knows what happened after that to distract me--I can only imagine--but I do remember commenting, "Boy! You sure scarfed those down! Do you want a cheese stick?!" He ate it--maybe--and then asked for grapes, like usual. He ate a lot and kept asking for more, but I didn't think much of it since he really likes grapes. Poor thing was probably wishing he could yell at me, "Seriously?! Cheese and grapes for lunch? What is this, Italy?! I'm starving over here!" But, being his sweet Jackson self, he just smiled, laughed, and played like normal. He didn't go to sleep right away at nap time and I wondered if he had reflux. Turns out that wasn't really an option, since I FORGOT to FEED him!!! Poor thing. He was probably too hungry to sleep!
So here's my "You're Welcome!" in advance for every other mother who takes a look at this entry. Once again, I've earned the Worst Mom title.
At least I'm good at something, right?!
Yeah. A perfect end to a perfect day. I was thinking of writing about my day anyway, but didn't have the energy and, well, it's not really that good of a story; just one of those nothing-went-right kind of days. It was just a crappy day.
But when I realized that I actually FORGOT to feed one of my kids, I thought I should take the time to make that information public. Maybe it will make someone laugh, or at least feel better about herself as a mom. In that case, it's worth the humiliation of revealing yet another Worst Mom story.
Evidently, I microwaved his nasty, processed, frozen corndogs in the microwave and stuck them in the freezer to cool off before giving them to him--like I do every meal (with variations on the type of frozen food, of course). Who knows what happened after that to distract me--I can only imagine--but I do remember commenting, "Boy! You sure scarfed those down! Do you want a cheese stick?!" He ate it--maybe--and then asked for grapes, like usual. He ate a lot and kept asking for more, but I didn't think much of it since he really likes grapes. Poor thing was probably wishing he could yell at me, "Seriously?! Cheese and grapes for lunch? What is this, Italy?! I'm starving over here!" But, being his sweet Jackson self, he just smiled, laughed, and played like normal. He didn't go to sleep right away at nap time and I wondered if he had reflux. Turns out that wasn't really an option, since I FORGOT to FEED him!!! Poor thing. He was probably too hungry to sleep!
So here's my "You're Welcome!" in advance for every other mother who takes a look at this entry. Once again, I've earned the Worst Mom title.
At least I'm good at something, right?!
Friday, September 12, 2008
Fall has Fallen
I guess it's time for another entry. I haven't been particularly inspired to write anything lately, so I've left my blog alone, but if anyone is checking in, I'm sure a new entry would be appreciated. I mean, who wants to go to the effort of clicking on someone's blog day after day without ever seeing anything new and exciting, right? (That's for you, Miss Global Okie!)
So... I'll tell about my day. It hasn't been exciting, but I have been in a much better mood today than usual (I'm NOT complaining about being 7 months pregnant, BUT... I do think the allergy/sneezing/congestion thing has put me in a bad mood for most of the last 3 months.), so I'm thinking there's a reason for my "sunny" disposition...
I know that's sort of a no-brainer, like "I love reading and traveling" or "chocolate is my life," but I REALLY love fall. I've actually been planning an I-Love-Fall entry for a while (anticipating the eventual change in season), but it will require digging out that old photo box and finding a particular picture from October of 2000 (see my Groundhog Day entry if you don't know why this is a huge problem), scanning the photo, and figuring out how to upload it. That'll just have to wait 'til next time.
My morning started as most of my mornings start, with Jonah coming in to wake me up (embarrassing, I know) and me convincing him to go back to his room until 8 (even more embarrassing, but as long as I can get away with it, why not?!). When he came back at 8, he brought the book he had been reading while waiting for me... it's one of my all-time favorites:
We read it together and Jonah said it made him want to make pumpkin bread. Since it was rainy (finally!) and cool (for once!), I agreed and we headed downstairs to make a ginormous mess. We were successful in making our bread and it made the house smell yummy and fall-like. Sigh. Can't you just imagine it? Being inspired by the homey-ness, I decided to put away my summer things and get out my fall candles and decorations. Now before you picture my house all decorated and cozy and ready for fall, take a minute to remember that I have two little kids. I'm not done. I have no business sitting down at the computer right now, in fact, but since I skipped a nap today (the first time in weeks!), I feel I have a right to do whatever I want.
So my house is a disaster. But here's what I've accomplished so far on this cool, wonderful day:
Still. It's a good day. Because it's rainy and cool and there's finally a promise of the arrival of my favorite time of year.
Okay. Back to work.
Thanks for hanging in there, faithful readers!
So... I'll tell about my day. It hasn't been exciting, but I have been in a much better mood today than usual (I'm NOT complaining about being 7 months pregnant, BUT... I do think the allergy/sneezing/congestion thing has put me in a bad mood for most of the last 3 months.), so I'm thinking there's a reason for my "sunny" disposition...
It's FALL!!
I LOVE Fall!
I LOVE Fall!
I know that's sort of a no-brainer, like "I love reading and traveling" or "chocolate is my life," but I REALLY love fall. I've actually been planning an I-Love-Fall entry for a while (anticipating the eventual change in season), but it will require digging out that old photo box and finding a particular picture from October of 2000 (see my Groundhog Day entry if you don't know why this is a huge problem), scanning the photo, and figuring out how to upload it. That'll just have to wait 'til next time.
My morning started as most of my mornings start, with Jonah coming in to wake me up (embarrassing, I know) and me convincing him to go back to his room until 8 (even more embarrassing, but as long as I can get away with it, why not?!). When he came back at 8, he brought the book he had been reading while waiting for me... it's one of my all-time favorites:
We read it together and Jonah said it made him want to make pumpkin bread. Since it was rainy (finally!) and cool (for once!), I agreed and we headed downstairs to make a ginormous mess. We were successful in making our bread and it made the house smell yummy and fall-like. Sigh. Can't you just imagine it? Being inspired by the homey-ness, I decided to put away my summer things and get out my fall candles and decorations. Now before you picture my house all decorated and cozy and ready for fall, take a minute to remember that I have two little kids. I'm not done. I have no business sitting down at the computer right now, in fact, but since I skipped a nap today (the first time in weeks!), I feel I have a right to do whatever I want.So my house is a disaster. But here's what I've accomplished so far on this cool, wonderful day:
- Read a great book in bed with Jonah
- Made pumpkin bread and muffins
- Eventually got Jackson out of bed when he wouldn't quit shouting "TOO LOUD!" and "MOMYMOMMYMOMMY!"
- Ate about 7 muffins
- Fed the kids (I even let them have some muffins!)
- Took all of my summer candles and things upstairs (they're scattered all over the banister)
- Dragged out my fall candles. They're also scattered all over the banister (still haven't gone to the garage for everything else)
- Stripped the beds
- Washed and dried about 6 loads of sheets... none of them are folded
- Switched out my summer bedding (the bed is still unmade, but I have the fall skirt on)
- Sorted the rest of the laundry (it's all over the upstairs hallway)
- Took so much time doing all of that, that we skipped our morning fun activity
- Convinced Jonah to play at McD's instead... but it was raining so much that we just hit the drive-through... I'm sure he's still angry with me
- Ate fatty, nasty food from McDonald's (DON-OH! as Jackson likes to say)
- Didn't clean up from lunch (still haven't cleaned up from breakfast or cooking)
- Read to kids and put them down for naps
- Took all of my smallish and summery maternity clothes out of the closet... they're on the unmade bed
- Took all of my smallish (period) clothes out of my closet... also on my unmade bed
- Sat down to check blogs and e-mail and haven't gotten up yet
Still. It's a good day. Because it's rainy and cool and there's finally a promise of the arrival of my favorite time of year.
Okay. Back to work.
Thanks for hanging in there, faithful readers!
Sunday, August 17, 2008
A Bike Ride with 2 & 1/2 Kids... What Were We Thinking?!
We are eternal optimists.
We know how difficult it is just to survive a day with a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old. Most of the day is spent nagging, cleaning up, managing children and gear, and telling Jonah to be nice to Jackson.
So WHY do we continue to leave the house? WHY do we think we can go places and do fun things?
Jonah got his first bike this summer and he's been doing really well on the sidewalks around our house. So we decided to venture out for our first Big Trail Ride this morning. The weather was absolutely perfect and we found a beautiful trail near Mt. Gretna, which is about 30 minutes from our house.
Every time we go somewhere on a weekend, we plan to get everything ready the night before and pack the car, so we can get the kids up and go. I mean, EVERY time. Yet, in 3 & 1/2 years, we have NEVER managed to do this! Admittedly, it was my fault this time. If we hadn't spent an hour on a quest to secure fried chicken for my dinner, Brad might have had time to get the bikes ready last night.
Instead, he spent almost 2 hours this morning airing up tires and getting everything together and loaded onto the truck. I managed the kids (not fun... they HATE waiting!) and packed a lunch. We wanted to leave by 8:30. We left at 10:00. Not too bad... still time for a nice ride before lunch time. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the parking lot and started to unload the truck, Brad discovered that one of the tires for the bike trailer had gone flat again, meaning we would need a new tube. Which we didn't have. We were proud of ourselves for looking on the GPS and finding a bike shop just 2 miles away. However, when the nice lady on the GPS announced that we arrived at our destination, we were at someone's house. Great. So we headed for Walmart, which was another 6 miles away, down winding roads, on the other side of an art festival, and past a couple of little towns.
Thirty minutes later, we were back in the car and on our way back to the trail head parking lot. By that time, Jackson was all-out screaming and Jonah was yelling for him to stop. Pleasant. We finally made it back to the parking lot and Brad got everything set up while Jonah and I experienced the local porta potty. Awesome.
Finally, we got on our bikes and headed down the trail. By that time, it was almost noon and the kids were all but spent for the day. Jonah couldn't pedal on the gravel parking lot, but we finally made it to the trail, which was packed limestone. It was smooth and not very hilly, but Jonah needed a push every 10 feet or so to keep going. About 100 feet down the trail, he admitted that he no longer wanted to ride his bike and would like to ride in the trailer with Jackson. We abandoned his bike on the side of the trail and he got in the trailer. Great. Now we could enjoy the ride. Don't they look happy?!
Two minutes after we took off, we heard--predictably--"I'm hungry!!" So we stopped for a snack. Which Jackson immediately dumped out... "UH OH!" We finally got going again. They were quiet for about three minutes, until Jonah refused to give Jackson any crackers and Jackson started screaming at him. For the next 20 minutes (or maybe it was only five?!), we attempted to move forward on the trail, but it was impossible to make any progress while admonishing Jonah and trying to convince him that Jackson was not touching him ON PURPOSE.
We finally turned around and headed back to the truck. I'm sure every person we passed (none of whom were biking with small children, by the way) rolled their eyes at the screaming coming from the trailer and then said a small prayer of thanks that they were enjoying a nice peaceful ride on an amazing trail on a picture-perfect day.
Eventually we did make it back to the truck and had a nice lunch at a little park adjacent to the parking lot. This was somehow the highlight of the day for the kids, even though it's the kind of thing we do on a weekly basis.
Oh well.
I'm sure if we get an earlier start next time, it will all be FINE, right?!
We know how difficult it is just to survive a day with a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old. Most of the day is spent nagging, cleaning up, managing children and gear, and telling Jonah to be nice to Jackson.
So WHY do we continue to leave the house? WHY do we think we can go places and do fun things?
Jonah got his first bike this summer and he's been doing really well on the sidewalks around our house. So we decided to venture out for our first Big Trail Ride this morning. The weather was absolutely perfect and we found a beautiful trail near Mt. Gretna, which is about 30 minutes from our house.
Every time we go somewhere on a weekend, we plan to get everything ready the night before and pack the car, so we can get the kids up and go. I mean, EVERY time. Yet, in 3 & 1/2 years, we have NEVER managed to do this! Admittedly, it was my fault this time. If we hadn't spent an hour on a quest to secure fried chicken for my dinner, Brad might have had time to get the bikes ready last night.
Instead, he spent almost 2 hours this morning airing up tires and getting everything together and loaded onto the truck. I managed the kids (not fun... they HATE waiting!) and packed a lunch. We wanted to leave by 8:30. We left at 10:00. Not too bad... still time for a nice ride before lunch time. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the parking lot and started to unload the truck, Brad discovered that one of the tires for the bike trailer had gone flat again, meaning we would need a new tube. Which we didn't have. We were proud of ourselves for looking on the GPS and finding a bike shop just 2 miles away. However, when the nice lady on the GPS announced that we arrived at our destination, we were at someone's house. Great. So we headed for Walmart, which was another 6 miles away, down winding roads, on the other side of an art festival, and past a couple of little towns.
Thirty minutes later, we were back in the car and on our way back to the trail head parking lot. By that time, Jackson was all-out screaming and Jonah was yelling for him to stop. Pleasant. We finally made it back to the parking lot and Brad got everything set up while Jonah and I experienced the local porta potty. Awesome.
Finally, we got on our bikes and headed down the trail. By that time, it was almost noon and the kids were all but spent for the day. Jonah couldn't pedal on the gravel parking lot, but we finally made it to the trail, which was packed limestone. It was smooth and not very hilly, but Jonah needed a push every 10 feet or so to keep going. About 100 feet down the trail, he admitted that he no longer wanted to ride his bike and would like to ride in the trailer with Jackson. We abandoned his bike on the side of the trail and he got in the trailer. Great. Now we could enjoy the ride. Don't they look happy?!
Two minutes after we took off, we heard--predictably--"I'm hungry!!" So we stopped for a snack. Which Jackson immediately dumped out... "UH OH!" We finally got going again. They were quiet for about three minutes, until Jonah refused to give Jackson any crackers and Jackson started screaming at him. For the next 20 minutes (or maybe it was only five?!), we attempted to move forward on the trail, but it was impossible to make any progress while admonishing Jonah and trying to convince him that Jackson was not touching him ON PURPOSE.
We finally turned around and headed back to the truck. I'm sure every person we passed (none of whom were biking with small children, by the way) rolled their eyes at the screaming coming from the trailer and then said a small prayer of thanks that they were enjoying a nice peaceful ride on an amazing trail on a picture-perfect day.
Eventually we did make it back to the truck and had a nice lunch at a little park adjacent to the parking lot. This was somehow the highlight of the day for the kids, even though it's the kind of thing we do on a weekly basis.
Oh well.I'm sure if we get an earlier start next time, it will all be FINE, right?!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Satisfying Jonah's Curiosity
I know it's only August, but Jonah's starting to ask about Christmas. It's pretty ridiculous, I know, but we have a LOT going on the next couple of months and Jonah has an overwhelming need to know when everything's going to happen. Our timeline goes something like this:
Jonah: You should call Santa and tell him to bring Daddy another guitar.
Me: Daddy doesn't really play the one Santa brought last year, so I don't think we'll ask for another one.
Jonah: Why doesn't he play it very much?
Me: Because he's busy with school.
Jonah: Daddy's not in school!
Me: Sure he is... whenever he reads his ophthalmology books, he's studying and that's like being in school.
Jonah: (after a thoughtful pause) So daddy goes to school on the TOILET?!
:-)
- When it gets a little cooler, Olivia's coming (yes, we can go to Great Wolf).
- After that, it'll be Halloween (yes, you can go trick-or-treating with Benjamin).
- Then it will be Jackson's Birthday (I don't know what kind of Birthday party he'll have; we'll decide when it gets a little closer.)
- When it gets a little colder and all the leaves are red and orange and mostly fallen off the trees, the new baby will come (no, she won't be ready to play and yes, you can paint her toe nails).
- Next is Thanksgiving (yes, you can watch the parade on TV).
- THEN, when it's pretty cold outside, it'll be your Birthday (sure, you can have a parajumper Birthday if that's what you still want by then).
- Finally, when it's cold and snowy it'll be Christmas (yes, Santa Claus will probably come, but I don't think you should dress in a Santa suit so he won't be scared away if he sees you... you will still have to go to sleep that night).
Jonah: You should call Santa and tell him to bring Daddy another guitar.
Me: Daddy doesn't really play the one Santa brought last year, so I don't think we'll ask for another one.
Jonah: Why doesn't he play it very much?
Me: Because he's busy with school.
Jonah: Daddy's not in school!
Me: Sure he is... whenever he reads his ophthalmology books, he's studying and that's like being in school.
Jonah: (after a thoughtful pause) So daddy goes to school on the TOILET?!
:-)
Friday, August 1, 2008
Trying to be Deep about Being a Mom
Sometimes I'm quick to pass along funny stories or to complain about how hard my life is, but it's probably not often enough that I share some of the more precious times we have together. I've had two days--in a row!--that really made me happy to be a mom and I'd like to share a bit with you, my faithful readers.
I mean, I'm happy at moments every day, of course, and I love love love my kids more each and every day, but some days are just really hard. If you read my post about taking the kids shopping, you know exactly what I mean. In fact, if you have kids of your own, you probably know what I mean.
Yesterday morning, we got up and out of the house to head to Jonah's Garden Wonderers class at Hershey Gardens. It was a beautiful morning... not too hot for once... and we were happy to be out in the fresh air. When we got to the gardens, we couldn't find our group. When I inquired at the desk, it turned out that there was no class that day; I had marked my calendar wrong. Since we were already there, we spent some time wandering leisurely through the grounds and enjoyed the butterfly house and children's garden. We sat down at the end and had a snack together and talked about everything we'd seen.
That's a sweet enough memory and experience--and a good reminder to take it down a notch sometimes and not always have to have an activity to do--but what made me smile even more was when Jonah told Brad about his day: "Daddy. You might be really disappointed about this, but we didn't have flower class today." He then went on to tell him it was the best time he ever had at Hershey Gardens.
Last night before bed, he wanted to start a new chapter book (we finished Winnie the Pooh last week). He didn't want ME to read House at Pooh Corner to him and it was Brad's turn to read to Jackson. Earlier in the day I had told him about Charlotte's Web and he remembered to ask for it. We read and enjoyed the first chapter. The best part, though, was the reverent way in which he carried his new book over and placed it gently down on the table right next to his bed.
When he got up this morning, he came running downstairs carrying three precious things: his blue blankie, his new water bottle (who knew a kid could get so excited about a bottle?!), and his new copy of Charlotte's Web. We immediately read a chapter and then talked about our plan for the day. When I told him we were going to Hershey Park with a friend, he said he wanted to take his book with him to show his friend. At first I said I didn't think taking a book into the park would be a good idea, but he said "Well, let's take it with us and when I get tired we can sit down and read a little chapter!"
Sigh. It was just one of those moments that you want to freeze. Of course we took the book with us and read a little chapter after we had our picnic lunch. I hope and pray that I never forget the gratifying feeling of having my three-year-old want to take a chapter book with him to an amusement park. When he's older and wants nothing to do with books or me, I NEED to remember that feeling.
I know every one of you has had moments like this... maybe even on a daily basis. Aren't you thankful for them? I'm going to try my hardest to conjure up these special memories the next time Jonah is accusing me of child abuse or the next time we're running frantically out of the house, late to an appointment for a class or play date. Does any of that really matter?!
Yes, actually, it does. We need classes and appointments and play dates and there's nothing wrong with all of that. It's only wrong if we fill our lives SO full with other stuff that we don't make time to pick up a new special book--the reading of which might possibly change our lives forever!--or to sit down together under an umbrella and enjoy a snack and conversation or (literally) take time to smell the roses.
That's why we're doing this, right?
Have a great weekend, friends.
tara
PS Diana: you'll be happy to know that my baseboards are decidedly UNclean today.
:-)
I mean, I'm happy at moments every day, of course, and I love love love my kids more each and every day, but some days are just really hard. If you read my post about taking the kids shopping, you know exactly what I mean. In fact, if you have kids of your own, you probably know what I mean.
Yesterday morning, we got up and out of the house to head to Jonah's Garden Wonderers class at Hershey Gardens. It was a beautiful morning... not too hot for once... and we were happy to be out in the fresh air. When we got to the gardens, we couldn't find our group. When I inquired at the desk, it turned out that there was no class that day; I had marked my calendar wrong. Since we were already there, we spent some time wandering leisurely through the grounds and enjoyed the butterfly house and children's garden. We sat down at the end and had a snack together and talked about everything we'd seen.
That's a sweet enough memory and experience--and a good reminder to take it down a notch sometimes and not always have to have an activity to do--but what made me smile even more was when Jonah told Brad about his day: "Daddy. You might be really disappointed about this, but we didn't have flower class today." He then went on to tell him it was the best time he ever had at Hershey Gardens.
Last night before bed, he wanted to start a new chapter book (we finished Winnie the Pooh last week). He didn't want ME to read House at Pooh Corner to him and it was Brad's turn to read to Jackson. Earlier in the day I had told him about Charlotte's Web and he remembered to ask for it. We read and enjoyed the first chapter. The best part, though, was the reverent way in which he carried his new book over and placed it gently down on the table right next to his bed.
When he got up this morning, he came running downstairs carrying three precious things: his blue blankie, his new water bottle (who knew a kid could get so excited about a bottle?!), and his new copy of Charlotte's Web. We immediately read a chapter and then talked about our plan for the day. When I told him we were going to Hershey Park with a friend, he said he wanted to take his book with him to show his friend. At first I said I didn't think taking a book into the park would be a good idea, but he said "Well, let's take it with us and when I get tired we can sit down and read a little chapter!"
Sigh. It was just one of those moments that you want to freeze. Of course we took the book with us and read a little chapter after we had our picnic lunch. I hope and pray that I never forget the gratifying feeling of having my three-year-old want to take a chapter book with him to an amusement park. When he's older and wants nothing to do with books or me, I NEED to remember that feeling.
I know every one of you has had moments like this... maybe even on a daily basis. Aren't you thankful for them? I'm going to try my hardest to conjure up these special memories the next time Jonah is accusing me of child abuse or the next time we're running frantically out of the house, late to an appointment for a class or play date. Does any of that really matter?!
Yes, actually, it does. We need classes and appointments and play dates and there's nothing wrong with all of that. It's only wrong if we fill our lives SO full with other stuff that we don't make time to pick up a new special book--the reading of which might possibly change our lives forever!--or to sit down together under an umbrella and enjoy a snack and conversation or (literally) take time to smell the roses.
That's why we're doing this, right?
Have a great weekend, friends.
tara
PS Diana: you'll be happy to know that my baseboards are decidedly UNclean today.
:-)
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Friday, July 18, 2008
Jonah the Drama King
I shouldn't tell anyone this story. I certainly should NOT post it on the internet for the whole world to see and openly judge me for being the World's Worst Mom. But it's just too funny not to share...
I don't normally take the kids shopping with me. In fact, I've even started buying my groceries online so I can avoid grocery stores altogether. I definitely, absolutely, never even think of taking them clothes shopping. But my husband surprised me with tickets to the Billy Joel concert last week (it was GREAT!), so I had no choice but to drag Jonah and Jackson into Motherhood Maternity to try to find something that wasn't too small (I'm much bigger than I was during my other two pregnancies, so I've outgrown most of my summer clothes) or too frumpy to wear to a concert.
Everything went pretty well, I guess, considering the fact that I was asking my 1- and 3-year-olds to hang out and do nothing while I tried on about 20 shirts. Jackson was fussy... didn't want to be in the dressing room, but certainly didn't want to be outside of the room where I was. Jonah tried to entertain and distract Jackson by playing (a loud version of) peek-a-boo. Finally, exasperated with my children, the ugly clothes at the store, and my non-sleek body, I gave up. I settled on a top that wouldn't be embarrassing to wear and headed for the checkout.
While I was waiting for the clerk to get off the phone and ring me up, both kids really started to lose it. Jackson entered full-on frustration mode and Jonah began running circles around the store, shouting "I'm SUPERWHY! Here to save the day!!" While I was declining the clerk's request for my number, e-mail, street address (come on, lady! just ring up the order!!), Jackson started screaming because he couldn't strap himself into the stroller and Jonah started diving in and out of the round clothing racks. Finally, as the clerk was explaining why my clothes were NEVER to be returned to the store for any reason (LOOK! I'm wearing it to a CONCERT in less than 4 hours, I probably WON'T be returning it!!!), Jonah started swinging his arms windmill-style and knocked an entire rack of underwear on the floor.
By then, my patience was gone. I went over to Jonah, grabbed him none-too-nicely by the arm, and dragged him over to a chair. I told him sternly, "Sit there until mommy's done!"
At which point he yelled, "MOMMY! You're CRACKING my BONES!!!"
I turned calmly back to the clerk, asked her very nicely to just ring up the flipping shirt and release me from her torture.
So. There you have it. World's Worst Mom Award goes to me. Once again.
But I did look really cute at the concert, so I guess it was worth it.
Right.
I don't normally take the kids shopping with me. In fact, I've even started buying my groceries online so I can avoid grocery stores altogether. I definitely, absolutely, never even think of taking them clothes shopping. But my husband surprised me with tickets to the Billy Joel concert last week (it was GREAT!), so I had no choice but to drag Jonah and Jackson into Motherhood Maternity to try to find something that wasn't too small (I'm much bigger than I was during my other two pregnancies, so I've outgrown most of my summer clothes) or too frumpy to wear to a concert.
Everything went pretty well, I guess, considering the fact that I was asking my 1- and 3-year-olds to hang out and do nothing while I tried on about 20 shirts. Jackson was fussy... didn't want to be in the dressing room, but certainly didn't want to be outside of the room where I was. Jonah tried to entertain and distract Jackson by playing (a loud version of) peek-a-boo. Finally, exasperated with my children, the ugly clothes at the store, and my non-sleek body, I gave up. I settled on a top that wouldn't be embarrassing to wear and headed for the checkout.
While I was waiting for the clerk to get off the phone and ring me up, both kids really started to lose it. Jackson entered full-on frustration mode and Jonah began running circles around the store, shouting "I'm SUPERWHY! Here to save the day!!" While I was declining the clerk's request for my number, e-mail, street address (come on, lady! just ring up the order!!), Jackson started screaming because he couldn't strap himself into the stroller and Jonah started diving in and out of the round clothing racks. Finally, as the clerk was explaining why my clothes were NEVER to be returned to the store for any reason (LOOK! I'm wearing it to a CONCERT in less than 4 hours, I probably WON'T be returning it!!!), Jonah started swinging his arms windmill-style and knocked an entire rack of underwear on the floor.
By then, my patience was gone. I went over to Jonah, grabbed him none-too-nicely by the arm, and dragged him over to a chair. I told him sternly, "Sit there until mommy's done!"
At which point he yelled, "MOMMY! You're CRACKING my BONES!!!"
I turned calmly back to the clerk, asked her very nicely to just ring up the flipping shirt and release me from her torture.
So. There you have it. World's Worst Mom Award goes to me. Once again.
But I did look really cute at the concert, so I guess it was worth it.
Right.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The results are in...
I know I should be creative and post some funny story about our pregnancy or thoughts or--at the very least--our trip to the hospital for our ultra sound, but I just don't have the energy today. I could also post photos from the CD they gave us and make you figure out the blobs (two? or three?). I could even post a picture of the 7 outfits I bought on sale at Babies R Us less than 3 hours after we left the hospital...
But I'll just go ahead and shout our exciting, wonderful, surprising news:
We're actually having a baby girl! I didn't know they made those!!!
And, yes, I would have been VERY happy with a boy... I love my boys! I never have been able to imagine myself being a mom to girls (Nicole has already promised to tutor me in the art of bow-tying) and it seems to be working out great with managing the two boys I have...
BUT. I'm incredibly excited to change it up and try out life as a Mom to a Daughter. This will be a whole new adventure!!
But I'll just go ahead and shout our exciting, wonderful, surprising news:
IT'S A GIRL!!!!!!!
We're actually having a baby girl! I didn't know they made those!!!
And, yes, I would have been VERY happy with a boy... I love my boys! I never have been able to imagine myself being a mom to girls (Nicole has already promised to tutor me in the art of bow-tying) and it seems to be working out great with managing the two boys I have...
BUT. I'm incredibly excited to change it up and try out life as a Mom to a Daughter. This will be a whole new adventure!!
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Fish Taco Recipe
| We had some AWESOME fish tacos this week, and I thought I'd share the recipe. I found it on allrecipes.com: Fish Tacos |  |
| |
INGREDIENTS:
| 1 cup all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 egg 1 cup beer 1/2 cup plain yogurt 1/2 cup mayonnaise 1 lime, juiced 1 jalapeno pepper, minced 1 teaspoon minced capers | 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 1/2 teaspoon dried dill weed 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper 1 quart oil for frying 1 pound cod fillets, cut into 2 to 3 ounce portions 1 (12 ounce) package corn tortillas 1/2 medium head cabbage, finely shredded |
DIRECTIONS:
| 1. | To make beer batter: In a large bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt. Blend egg and beer, then quickly stir into the flour mixture (don't worry about a few lumps). |
| 2. | To make white sauce: In a medium bowl, mix together yogurt and mayonnaise. Gradually stir in fresh lime juice until consistency is slightly runny. Season with jalapeno, capers, oregano, cumin, dill, and cayenne. |
| 3. | Heat oil in deep-fryer to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). |
| 4. | Dust fish pieces lightly with flour. Dip into beer batter, and fry until crisp and golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Lightly fry tortillas; not too crisp. To serve, place fried fish in a tortilla, and top with shredded cabbage, and white sauce. |
| ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2008 Allrecipes.com | Printed from Allrecipes.com 7/3/2008 |
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Our New Digs
A quick disclaimer:
I know I didn't post many photos from our wonderful Great Wolf/New York City trip, but I did want to mention that we had quite a time. As you could tell from my last post, it was more work than fun, but we did get to do some fun things, like taking the Staten Island Ferry to get some great photos of the Statue of Liberty and exploring about 1% of Central Park. We enjoyed spending lots of time on the Subway, we ate several delicious bagels, had some good pizza, and spent a VERY rainy (like, umbrella-breaking wind-storm-type of rainy) day in FAO Schwartz. Best of all, we got to spend time with Brad's brother Jeff and my old pal Amy Osborne.
So. Don't think our trip was uneventful or un-fun, just because I didn't write much about it.
And on to the rest of our early-summer adventure...
My next post will be about our trip to western Ohio for Brad's youngest brother's high school graduation.
First, though, I should mention the exciting 24-hour period that immediately preceded our 9-hour road trip to lovely Lima OH. Our plan was to leave after work on Friday and drive halfway that evening... we had reservations at a hotel in Pittsburgh.
I decided at noon on Thursday that I should look into buying a minivan. During nap time, I called around to the Honda dealerships to see if anyone had the model we (after a year of deliberating, looking, test-driving, researching, etc) had decided on. Lo and behold, three of them did and all three came in with different offers. Which left me in the position of negotiating. FUN! One of the sales people (persons?) was smart to offer to drive the van over to MY HOUSE that day so I could check it out.
Long story short:
He ended up being the best sales person EVER and, after about 15 calls back and forth and some very impressive wheeling and dealing on my part (of course, he's probably bragging right now about how HE swindled ME into a horrible deal), I drove our new Odyssey home at 6 pm on Friday evening. Short story a little longer: I hadn't exactly planned to buy a minivan then, so I had to consult with Brad at 10:30 pm on Thursday night, after he had worked about a 15-hour day. Maybe he was too tired to argue? :-)
SO... we bought a minivan. We're officially a Minivan Family. You might be embarrassed for me, but--deep down--I bet you're either (a) jealous because you want one or (b) gloating because you already have one and you want the rest of the world to join your Little Club.
I know I didn't post many photos from our wonderful Great Wolf/New York City trip, but I did want to mention that we had quite a time. As you could tell from my last post, it was more work than fun, but we did get to do some fun things, like taking the Staten Island Ferry to get some great photos of the Statue of Liberty and exploring about 1% of Central Park. We enjoyed spending lots of time on the Subway, we ate several delicious bagels, had some good pizza, and spent a VERY rainy (like, umbrella-breaking wind-storm-type of rainy) day in FAO Schwartz. Best of all, we got to spend time with Brad's brother Jeff and my old pal Amy Osborne.
So. Don't think our trip was uneventful or un-fun, just because I didn't write much about it.
And on to the rest of our early-summer adventure...
My next post will be about our trip to western Ohio for Brad's youngest brother's high school graduation.
First, though, I should mention the exciting 24-hour period that immediately preceded our 9-hour road trip to lovely Lima OH. Our plan was to leave after work on Friday and drive halfway that evening... we had reservations at a hotel in Pittsburgh.
I decided at noon on Thursday that I should look into buying a minivan. During nap time, I called around to the Honda dealerships to see if anyone had the model we (after a year of deliberating, looking, test-driving, researching, etc) had decided on. Lo and behold, three of them did and all three came in with different offers. Which left me in the position of negotiating. FUN! One of the sales people (persons?) was smart to offer to drive the van over to MY HOUSE that day so I could check it out.
Long story short:
He ended up being the best sales person EVER and, after about 15 calls back and forth and some very impressive wheeling and dealing on my part (of course, he's probably bragging right now about how HE swindled ME into a horrible deal), I drove our new Odyssey home at 6 pm on Friday evening. Short story a little longer: I hadn't exactly planned to buy a minivan then, so I had to consult with Brad at 10:30 pm on Thursday night, after he had worked about a 15-hour day. Maybe he was too tired to argue? :-)
SO... we bought a minivan. We're officially a Minivan Family. You might be embarrassed for me, but--deep down--I bet you're either (a) jealous because you want one or (b) gloating because you already have one and you want the rest of the world to join your Little Club.
Without further ado:
(Not an Actual Photo, but a very good likeness!)
(Not an Actual Photo, but a very good likeness!)And for those of you who are still reading:
I wouldn't want to leave a story unfinished... since I spent the day-and-a-half before our trip car shopping instead of doing laundry and packing, we ended up leaving town at 10pm on Friday evening. We arrived at our hotel at 2:30 am, the kids didn't fall back asleep until 3:30 am. We woke up the next morning and drove the rest of the way to Lima and arrived with plenty of time to spare before the graduation on Saturday evening. We remained exhausted throughout the weekend and never had a chance to catch up on sleep until, well, now.
But it was SO worth it!
I wouldn't want to leave a story unfinished... since I spent the day-and-a-half before our trip car shopping instead of doing laundry and packing, we ended up leaving town at 10pm on Friday evening. We arrived at our hotel at 2:30 am, the kids didn't fall back asleep until 3:30 am. We woke up the next morning and drove the rest of the way to Lima and arrived with plenty of time to spare before the graduation on Saturday evening. We remained exhausted throughout the weekend and never had a chance to catch up on sleep until, well, now.
But it was SO worth it!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Back Home
We're finally home!
We have had a fantastic 2 months, but we are SO happy to be back home and settling into our routine. We enjoyed every part of our recent adventures; I only wish they could have been spread out a little. The timing worked out the way it did, though, so we forced about a year's worth of trips and visits into 2 short months.
Since May 1, the kids and I have slept in 8 different beds! We've been in 6 states, on 3 airplanes, and driven almost 3000 miles. No wonder we're exhausted, broke, and sick of each other!
I'll post a few pics at a time (no more excuses!) and cover one segment of our "vacation" (yeah, right!) in each post. So... this sounds almost like a promise... check back soon for photos from our trip to beautiful Lima, Ohio.
We have had a fantastic 2 months, but we are SO happy to be back home and settling into our routine. We enjoyed every part of our recent adventures; I only wish they could have been spread out a little. The timing worked out the way it did, though, so we forced about a year's worth of trips and visits into 2 short months.
Since May 1, the kids and I have slept in 8 different beds! We've been in 6 states, on 3 airplanes, and driven almost 3000 miles. No wonder we're exhausted, broke, and sick of each other!
I'll post a few pics at a time (no more excuses!) and cover one segment of our "vacation" (yeah, right!) in each post. So... this sounds almost like a promise... check back soon for photos from our trip to beautiful Lima, Ohio.
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