Not Gone, And Hopefully Not Forgotten

HAS IT REALLY BEEN THIS LONG? (according to my Mother, yes, it has)

Anyone still out there?  If you are, I really am still here and apologize for the major delay in posting, but I do have my reasons.  I'll get into that part of it later, but for now, here's the last few months in a nutshell:

Once again, there seems to be nothing better than a big cardboard box and holey socks. After attending a puppet show at the library, puppet shows were big in our household for about a week.  It was quite amusing as both boys acted out everything (socks included) with their faces showing.

For Thanksgiving, we made the 14 hour trek to Florida.  We split it into a 2-day drive and a fairly consistent theme seemed to emerge there and back: Day one went swimmingly, everyone was in a grand mood, ready to travel.  Day two we were all reduced to complaining, picking, crying (from the back seat) and peacemaking, yelling, begging (from the front seat).  It was certainly worth the trip though, the coast and our family treated us well and we had some good times up and down the beach.

December turned out to be pretty crazy-each week the boys had at least 3 major celebrations or birthday parties to attend.  Here are Boy and Baby O at the Kindergarten holiday party making ice cream cone Christmas trees.  Baby O felt like such a grown-up participating in all the activities alongside his brother, we are so lucky to have such a kind teacher who has made him an honorary member of the class.

Just taking a moment to brag about my mad cupcake skills-the poinsettias and reindeer were a big hit with Kindergarten.  I may not be able to bake a cake to save my life, but man-o-man, can I decorate a cupcake. 



We celebrated Christmas as one big family.  Both sets of grandparents were able to join us and Christmas morning was full of bulldozers, super heroes, trains, cars, Legos, scooters, knee pads, and headlamps among other things.  It never ceases to amaze me how loud it can get in our household.  I'm used to loud, but this was pretty insane. 

MY REASONS aka HOW COME I'M ALWAYS THE LAST TO KNOW?

I went into a weird funk after Halloween.  At the time I didn't pay much attention to it, thinking it was just the change in weather or all the upcoming events of the holidays.  But, by the time we arrived home from our Thanksgiving vacation, I had all but stopped doing most of the things that I enjoyed doing from day to day.  I stopped reading, stopped running, started taking three hour naps during the day, and going to bed soon after we put the kids to bed at 7:30 pm each night.  It got so bad that about a half hour before Daddy O would get home from work, I would force myself to open the blinds, make the bed and get dressed.  Had it not been for some sporadic play dates, having to pick up and drop off Boy O at school, and of course feed my family, I probably would not have gotten out of bed. 

After a couple of weeks of working my way towards bed sores, I assumed the worst.  I debated on what kind of specialist needed to see me.  The endocrinologist couldn't get me in for another six months.  The family practitioner couldn't see me for another four weeks.  Daddy O assumed I was having a mid-life crisis and was on the verge of a break down.  Should I check into psychiatry?

Then I had a random conversation with one of the moms at Baby O's regular playgroup.   We were talking about where we had traveled for Thanksgiving and she had been the small coastal town in Florida where we had spent our vacation.  She said she would never forget that town, because (and without any indication of my current state of mind or affairs), she happened to mention several symptoms she had experienced several years earlier in that very place.  As I was listening, my mind started to say, check, check and check-maybe?  No way.  Seriously.  Not a chance.

To make a long story short, the physician who had matriculated from several prominent Ivy League schools and who also informed us that it would not be possible for us to conceive on our own was wrong.  Not only was I pregnant, but according to my obstetrician, I was already almost through the first trimester. 

Oooohhhh.  Makes perfect sense now.  Tearing up while reading a Christmas story or watching a cotton commercial....having a sudden aversion to the smell of coffee...periodic nausea...being tired ALL the time...these among probably every other tell tale sign of being pregnant.  No, it's not rocket science, but this was the furthest thing from my mind. Needless to say, it came as quite the shock. 

What I love about this news, is that every time we tell someone of the "shocking" news, they respond by saying, we knew this was going to happen....

Daddy O and I kind of wish everyone else would have let us in on the whole thing, but it's great news and we are all excited about the new addition to our family.  Boy O is eager to suggest names-his top choices so far are Clark and Bruce.   Baby O remains blissfully unaware and it is going to be one interesting ride to say the least. 

One last thing, is there any other news about our future that you wish to share with me?  I'm kind of all surprised out....

Reality Squared

What can I say about reality and coming back to it?   Hmmm....There are a few choice phrases I'm thinking of, but I'll just say: Ugghh.

Sure, we were all tired and somewhat grimy by the end of the trip, but aside from a few sleep issues and the general grouchiness that comes along with heavy traveling, things were peachy.  It was peaceful not to have to deal with the everyday mundane and just look out the window and watch the world go by.  It was fun to eat at different/weird restaurants and explore life close the interstate.  It felt like old times, traveling with my Dad, but now with my own family in tow.

The trip ended all too abruptly with the departure of my father.  I white-knuckled it to the airport in an unfamiliar city and pleaded several times with my  boys to keep silent or I might crash (horrible, yes-but at the time, it did seem absolutely necessary and not all that inaccurate).   I cried as I said goodbye and tried to dry my tears for the next hour or so in order to navigate the directions to our new home.

As the next seven days went by in a furious blur of activity, each and every task appeared to move painfully slow to us.  Unpacking was difficult with two boys running around and made even more onerous due to the diminished square footage that our rental provided us in comparison with our previous abode. Many items went into a storage facility and I never knew how much I would dearly miss all of  my kitchen cabinets.  If I could write them a thank you note expressing my unwavering love, I probably would. 

Overwhelming. There has just been so much to do.  First and foremost was unpacking, then endless amounts of paperwork from the rental company, initiating accounts with public utilities, selling our house (yay!), finding a notary, registering Boy O for school, getting pool passes, library card, cancelling utilities and home insurance, rental insurance, choosing new health insurance and I still haven't managed to tackle car insurance, getting new driver's licenses, car inspections, etc...  So much for my giant folder.

Things feel like they are getting back on track-Daddy O started his new job, Boy O started Kindergarten (more on that later), I joined a local Mom's group, and Baby O is enjoying more one on one time with me during the day.  But sometimes I find myself focusing on silly things like why the light switches are on the outside of the bathrooms, why ceiling fans were not designed for short people, why our rental agency doesn't care that our house is infested by ants and why this part of the country seems to have an excess of feeder roads and super targets...I guess it's all just new.  I'll be honest-besides our friends that we left behind, the thing I miss most is how comfortable we were in our house and community.  I haven't quite found my groove yet and I keep reminding myself that it has only been two weeks and it will take at least a few more to get my mojo back.  The kids on the other hand continue to demonstrate their plasticity and seem to have transitioned much more smoothly than Mommy and Daddy O.  Get them on their regular bedtime, a couple of familiar toys and they are good to go.

We have been soaking up the endless sunshine and spend most mornings at the neighborhood pool. One unfortunate side effect of the dry weather has been the onset of ants and they all decided to take over a couple of rooms late last week.  I would like to add that I am not one to balk at the sight of a few ants in the bathroom, but when they take over a closet, crib, queen size bed and all the additional bedding, I hit my breaking point.  As the exterminator explained that the ant activity might not subside for a few more days even after his toxic remedy, we decided to hit the road and stay at the beach for a couple of days while things died down.  I can't think of a better place to be. 

Note to self: write thank you note to the ants for wonderful weekend at Mustang Island filled with swimming, sandcastles, tourist traps and fresh salty air.

Day 6

We got off to an early start this morning, expecting the last leg of the trip to be long and...long.  After visiting several national parks in the last few days, I was disappointed to learn that we had arrived too late and we would leave too early to visit the Roswell UFO museum during our brief visit.   I know it doesn't measure up to the Grand Canyon, but I had envisioned it to be a fun, guilty pleasure kind of stop along the way.  So I made everyone stop for a picture on our way out of town.  At 6 o'clock in the morning.  I figured it was the next best thing.

There seemed to be quite a few bathroom breaks today and we had to communicate via my Dad's cell phone today between cars due to the fact that I left my phone charger somewhere in Arizona.  For the first pit stop, I asked my Dad to call Daddy O who was driving in front of us to pull off at the next gas station.  My Dad dialed the number, and as soon as he heard the phone pick up said, Hey we need a potty break!  Unfortunately he had dialed the wrong number and the person on the other end let him know it.  We had a good laugh about that!

Today was full of entertainment from my Dad or Chief as the boys refer to him-he told all the old stories I remembered and a few new ones.  The hours were filled with different forms of I spy and other games and I'm glad that the boys got to experience my Dad in fun 'travel mode'.  We will all be sad to see him leave tomorrow.

Here is Boy O in Pecos, Texas-he is fascinated with cactus and this was right next to the gas station where we made a much needed pit stop. 

We ate lunch in Ozona, Texas where there was a Davy Crockett monument.  Boy O is a big fan of the old Davy Crockett movies (thanks Dad!) and this was the highlight of the day (besides the pool later on). 

Even though we were on the road for eight hours, the miles seemed to go by fast and before we knew it, Hill Country was upon us.  In the blink of an eye, our road trip is ending and although I will be so excited to see our washing machine and dryer tomorrow (hopefully), I will be sad to say goodbye to my Dad and the break from the ol' grind.  It's been a great ride but it's time to go back to reality, I guess. 

Day 5

On the road again.  And again and again.  Today seemed to never end.  The morning flew by from Flagstaff to the border of New Mexico, but by the time we hit Albequerque, time seemed to inch backward.  It's getting to that point where we are all tired of sitting and driving, the dirty clothes are multiplying fast and stinking up what's left of the clean ones and the entertainment center of my brain has been exhausted.

Despite the monotony of the drive we still managed to stop briefly at the petrified forest.  In all reality,  I needed a potty break and it coincided perfectly with exit 311 and literally the only place to stop was the national park.  Perfect timing. 

Boy O at the petrified forest:

Baby O at the petrified forest:

We have made our way through the painted desert and the bleak landscape of the New Mexico desert and are staying the night in Roswell, New Mexico. Surprisingly, I do not have any pool pictures because we didn't even go.  It was just nice to sit here in the room, do nothing and walk across the street to have some dinner.  The boys are doing really well with the lack of routine from day to day, they seem tired of sitting all day as well, but are enjoying all the amenities the hotels have to offer (ice machines and shower caps really do provide a lot of entertainment) and take full advantage of exploring all there is to explore at various rest stops and emergency potty breaks.

Onto Texas tomorrow!

Day 4

We took a welcome break today from all the heavy driving and set aside the entire day to see the Grand Canyon.  A day really isn't enough to really explore and see everything, but I think it was a good introduction until we can make a longer trip sometime in the future.  

Words and pictures cannot describe the Grand Canyon.  Wow.  I think we stopped at every scenic view point to oohh and ahhh.

As we sat down to eat at the Canyon Cafeteria (going on hour 4 of ooohing and aaahing), Boy O plunked himself down at the table and said very matter of factly, You know Mom, I think we should just go to a hotel and go to the pool.  That just about summed it up and I knew we were on our way out soon. 

On that note, instead of posting pics of all the national parks and scenic view we pass, I should really just do a post on the variety of pools from state to state.  Here's Flagstaff, Arizona:

Back on the road tomorrow and hope we can make some headway through New Mexico!

Day 2 and 3

Once again, I'm behind.  It is harder than I had imagined to find the time to sit down before we collapse on our hotel bed at the end of a long day of being on the road. 

We left Boise early in the morning on day 2 and drove into Utah until the end of the day.  Although very beautiful, my general impression was that the department of transportation had somehow made the decision to put every major highway under construction in one summer. It seemed as if traveling in one lane of traffic would never end.  We found ways to entertain ourselves and Boy O has been enjoying playing musical chairs between the two vehicles.

At the end of the day we found ourselves in Fillmore, Utah and unpacked at the Paradise Inn.  The grounds of Paradise also included a Garden of Eat'n (seriously) and a good sized pool.  After looking at what the area had to offer in the way of food, we decided to try the restaurant:

I wouldn't say the ol' garden was even a small slice of paradise, but the experience and the picture alone was worth the trouble.  After recovering from the pork chops and garlic toast we hurried on over to the pool to get some much needed energy out and headed off to bed.

Today we continued to travel South through Utah and were pleased to discover that the entire state was not reduced to one lane of traffic.    The scenery was breathtaking and we made an unscheduled stop at Bryce Canyon to look at some of the scenic views.

From Bryce Canyon, we made our way all the way through more amazing sights into Arizona and are staying just an hours drive from the Grand Canyon.  Tomorrow should be exciting....

Day 1

Technically it is day 2 of our trip, but I'm the only one up and it's only 5 in the morning so this is a good time to give an update.  Everything has been on schedule so far-my Dad arrived without a hitch, the packers seemed to do a good job (I'll wait until we see how much made it in one piece), and the movers were done by 4 pm on Tuesday. 

 I was surprised at how well the boys did, mostly just good natured all day and no meltdowns.  We made good time yesterday and arrived in Boise, Idaho late in the afternoon. After a couple of minutes unpacking we ate a large dinner and hurried back for the most important part of the trip: swimming.

I am hoping that today goes just as well.  Happy travels!

Overdrive

Wow.  I haven't posted in so long, I actually forgot my password.  I hadn't posted in so long that I started to avoid the blog altogether. I have always enjoyed writing my posts, but it really became a chore, so I just didn't do it.  I haven't posted in so long....I could go on, but I promise I'm back and I promise to post more, because I want to be able to look back on this and remember all of it-the good, the bad, and the busy, busy, busy.

Where did the time go and what the heck have we been doing?

NECESSARY DISTRACTIONS
I would not have been able to get through the past couple of months if I didn't keep myself and my family busy. I did and do this very purposefully-I function much better on a schedule, and I find that if I'm functioning okay, everyone else follows suit.  Running, swimming and field trips somehow got me through.

On running-After months of training in the pouring rain and complaining about it to all those who would listen, I finally ran my marathon and I am proud to say I did it all by myself.  Daddy O and I have always run as a fierce twosome, each of us pushing the other in different ways.  It was incredibly tough to train without a partner and I dreaded completing a marathon without my husband.  One week pre-marathon I was full of nerves, worrying about the aftermath of three successive colds in the previous six weeks as well as the development of a painful charlie horse in my left calf that seemed to appear around mile eight.  I discussed how nervous I was with a volunteer when I went to pick up my race-day packet and she said don't worry, there are a lot of first timers out there!  You'll do great.  She seemed a bit surprised when I told her this would not be my first, but my fifth. 

The marathon itself was not nearly as tough as the training and I really managed to enjoy myself and seeing my family cheer me on at certain points along the way.  My calf seized up on cue at mile eight, but I stuck it out and by mile 15, I didn't feel much of anything.  Funny how that works.  I did hit a pretty good wall around mile 24, but I came away feeling good about my run.  It was a new challenge and it turned out to be fun.  Hopefully I can continue to run this distance, but I think I'm going to look for a babysitter or a new training partner to make the preparation part easier.  Fast forward to today and Daddy O and I have switched roles, I have cut down on my miles and take care of the kids while he trains for his first  marathon solo. 

On swimming (and bragging)-Swimming became our core activity. We would usually head out in the morning and arrive at the pool about an hour early so we could take advantage of the playground areas at the school nearby.  Then the boys would swim for an hour and we would trek up the stairs to the cafeteria where they offered  a free lunch for those in the program.  By the time we arrived home around one o'clock in the afternoon, both kids were practically comatose and voluntarily napped for at least two hours.   Ahhhhhh....

But back to lessons...I am impressed at the progress my boys have made.  Boy O can dive and flip off the diving board, swim across the pool forward and backwards by himself as well as dive down under the water to retrieve different items.  Considering that he was swimming with a float belt and/or floaties just two short months ago-amazing.  Not only is he confident he can swim, I am confident that he can swim and it makes me feel so much more comfortable when we are around water.

Baby O has also shown improvement and though he is just shy of two years old, he can actually swim across the pool (with foam floaties of course) by himself.  Although he was wonderful at the swimming part, he still showed his age with the getting out of the pool part and standing in line part.  I got just as much of a workout as him guiding him in and out of the pool.  Even though I feel very comfortable with Boy O around water and am glad that Baby O feels comfortable in the water, swim lessons have only increased my nervousness with Baby O, he is so fearless that I have to be much more vigilant or just jump in along with him.


On field trips and other things (and more bragging) - I have been a woman possessed when it comes to school work and field trips.  I would assume that most people let up in the summer time, but I wanted to take advantage of the upcoming road trip and continue with his reading and math skills so he would be ready to start school in the fall.  Geography has been a fantastic addition to the mix and Boy O knows all 50 states and capitals (contrary to what you might think, I am not a drill Sergeant-it is all thanks to a CD we listen to in the car), can read a simple map and is familiar with different climates and landforms.  Field trips to Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helen's and hiking in local state parks have also been good for seeing the best of the Pacific Northwest as well as supplementing what he has learned from his workbook.  Nothing better than seeing a volcano and its path of destruction first hand...

Here are a couple of pictures of our trip to Mt. Rainier.  Keep in mind this was mid-July and we should have brought snow pants and sleds.

SO...
Running, swim lessons, and life in general have kept Family O busy up until my last post and then everything kind of went into overdrive. I'm an army brat, I've moved dozens of times, shouldn't I be the expert? I can imagine my Mothers voice now: Not really. Your parents always did the hard stuff, and all you had to do was put some clothes back on hangers, help unpack the spices and generally stay out of the way. Seriously, that's all I did. After doing some very minor things, I realized that it was tedious work and usually found somewhere to skulk off to out of sight where someone couldn't ask me to do something that required any type of effort. In retrospect though, now that I have kids of my own, maybe this was by design (care to comment on that Mom and Dad?).

It was as if one day I realized we had only a month left in a place we had called home for the last seven years. Questions began to clutter my head. Why hasn't one person come to look at our house? What are we going to do? Where are we going to live? What community should we choose? What school supplies should I buy for Kindergarten? Or first grade? And of course the most important: Why on earth have I not created a gigantic folder of every answer to my question with an exact minute by minute diagram of what will happen from the moment our things are in the moving van?

Not to worry. After two weeks of brain chaos, it only took me a few hours to create the giant folder and endless checklist of things to do and then about two more weeks to see it to fruition. Then it became a waiting game. A countdown. The last day of school.

IT ONLY TAKES ONE
Even though I was keeping busy and now fully armed with my gigantic folder, things still started to weigh heavy on my mind.  Things out of my control.  Big things.  Our house.  The one thing my folder couldn't do was find someone to buy our house.  In 65 days on the market, not one person had come to look at our house.  Not one.  I would clean the house every morning before I left just in case someone wanted to see that day.  I had been Suzy Sunshine up until a point, trying to stay optimistic and somewhat lah-dee-dah about the whole thing.  But after sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming every day for nearly two months, it was becoming clear to me that our house wasn't going to sell and thinking of keeping this house on the market or renting it from 3000 miles away gave me heart palpitations.  Daddy O took the long trip South  to find a rental for us and fortunately was able to find something nice, albeit smaller than what we have been accustomed to that was within our budget.  Sure enough, the day after we signed the lease, I received a call that someone wanted to look at our house and the rest is history.  It isn't officially sold yet, but we expect to close within the next couple of  weeks.  WHEW!  In celebration of the offer, I didn't sweep, mop, vacuum or mow the lawn for 10 days.  It was a pretty awesome 10 days, but then the boys started playing with dust bunnies and I decided I might need to sweep.

I'm not super sentimental about moving on but it is fun to look back-this is where we began our life as a  couple seven years ago.  We hadn't even been married six months when we bought this house, got jobs, and settled down.  We made a lot of friends, saw many things, started a family and lived our dream.  We will have the most amazing memories and I am sad to leave but also looking forward to what I call "Phase II" in the life of Family O.

IT'S TIME!
My Dad is flying in on Sunday to help us traverse the country from top to bottom.  The packers arrive on Monday, the movers come on Tuesday and we will begin our 6-7 day journey soon thereafter. The countdown is almost over and I'm looking forward to the journey and beginning new.  Stay tuned-I will keep you posted next week on the road!

Last Chance

In an effort to make sure the boys see all there is to see of the Pacific Northwest before we pack our bags, we spent a cloudy Memorial Day driving along the Columbia River Gorge, toured Bonneville Dam, and stopped at several scenic waterfalls.  There's only about a thousand and one more things to see and do in the next eight weeks...

This was a scenic pull off point overlooking the Gorge.  I kept a tight grip on Boy O and Baby O enjoyed seeing the view from his car seat-it freaks me out just to look over the edge.  

Family O took a private tour of the Dam due to the fact that most people were enjoying the BBQ in their backyard.  Both boys loved the steep escalators and glass elevators.

A tour of the waterfalls is always a great thing to do on a drizzly day.  It's beautiful whatever the weather.  Especially Multnomah Falls.

Baby O's smile/grimace is still going strong.

I think this photograph looks familiar-Michael Jackson anyone?

I held Baby O so tight, I'm surprised he survived, luckily this shot only took a few seconds.

Good times had by all, stay tuned there is more to come!