Some things about being back

Coming back to MN after dark, to a new house stacked with boxes, with a husband working at the opposite end of the state will make you want to cry a little. Or just make a u-turn for the airport to return to somewhere that doesn't make you feel sticky when you step outside.

It only take about 24 hours to get over the aforementioned wallowing , and the purchase of nutty bars, swiss rolls, and toffee ice cream bars definitely have a strong hand in that rebound.

Your toddler will feel like life is taking place in a magical new world because he has grass right outside his front door instead of a prison-like hallway. He also appreciates the newfound strength he has to crush rocks (dirt clods) with his bare hands, so don't worry about the dirt patches on the lawn. They are aiding in the construction of confidence.

Having wonderful friends is dee bayst. I know you don't want to seem moochy and needy, but lady, you're 8 months pregnant, and frankly, need all of the help anyone at all anywhere is willing to give you. Let them bring you dinner and unpack your kitchen. You will be so grateful.

Sleeping with a man in your bed isn't nearly as hard as you thought. Turns out your pregnant body didn't HAVE to take up all of that other space after all. 

Don't rake the entire yard at once. It will send you into contractions. Do half one day, and the other half on some other day.

Don't feel guilty about laying in bed for an hour after M wakes up. He got out of bed himself, and started playing with his toys himself. He's happy. You need rest. You can pick up every single toy he owns in about five minutes. Its okay if they get strewn about.

Those yoga pants that you stole from your mom? They fall down a lot. Try to only wear them at home.

Minnesota, its good to see ya.

Into the West*

Traveling with M was a completely different experience this time than it was when we flew to New Jersey in January.

January: we dropped curb side at the airport very early in the morning, and I went through security by myself with bags and toddler.

June: We parked the car, C walked with us into the airport to help me get bags through check-in, and then he stood in the security line with us. Does getting through security give anyone else unnecessary levels of palm-sweaty anxiety? At the end of the line we learned that you can get a gate pass that will allow you to go through security and stay with loved ones at the gate until they board the plane. Whaaaaaaat? If you knew about this I am mentally glove slapping you for not sharing. They are ladies gloves, and not harmful, but I hope you're feeling repentant.

January: M was still a lap child. This is a good idea for only one reason. It saves money. Even six months ago he was active and mobile enough that keeping him on my lap for five hours of flight time ended up being a challenge.

June: We had our own seats. This made a huuuuuuge difference. I had my own space, and he had his. He got to sit by the window, have his own snack tray to drive cars on, and poke the woman in front of him (thank goodness she was very nice). I got to read a bit, talk to the person on my other side, and even snuck a snack for myself in there. When he fell asleep I was able to just lay his head on my lap, and not worry about his knees or feet bothering our neighbors while I tried to hold him. I could travel with him this way any time.

(C's aunt makes these double sided puzzles, and M is crazy about them. Flipzles. Awesome.)

January: We had a 30 minute layover that barely left us enough time to change a diaper, and rush to our next flight. M didn't have any time to stretch his legs or get a break from me.

June: We had a four hour layover. I was dreading this to begin with, but it ended up being really great for us. We found an empty terminal where M played with his toys and watched the airplanes out the window for about an hour. We walked on the moving sidewalks. We sat down and ate some dinner. We got close to our terminal and pulled out his books. Then it was time to get on our plane. He zonked during take off, and I had to wake him when we landed.

Now we are here enjoying family, having a yard, cooling off in the evening, and playing in the irrigation. Consistently spending more than just and hour or two out of the house every day has made one little boy so happy.

However, there is a man in the mid-west being very much missed.

                

*This song will be played at my funeral. One of you make arrangements accordingly.

Businessy stuff

Relocation seems to have infused itself into the blood of our life. We have been married four years, and lived in six places. Its insane. It is also fun. It is also not fun. We seem to always stay somewhere just long enough to get attached, and then leave. At least we have been some amazing friends this way, and I am awesome at putting things in boxes.

So basically we are in the same family as Marry Poppins and Nanny McPhee...just with dwellings instead of children.

Our lives are currently split between Mahwah, New Jersey, and a little farm somewhere close to Cooperstown in upstate New York. We still have our apartment and things in Minnesota, and will return there come spring. 

We are here just to experience something fun and different. Chesley's flight job practically transforms into a janitorial job in the winter. The weather just isn't conducive to flying or crop dusting (surprise), so he ends up sweeping the hangar floor, or wiping down helicopters over and over and over. He has the wax on, wax off thing mastered, so we are here on the east coast giving maple syrup production a go.

Our dear family friends that are having us here own a maple farm in New York. They always need winter help tapping trees, and Ches has wanted to come out and work for them since he was a teenager. He is spending his days in the snowy maple woods in order to bring certified organic syrupy goodness to the people of the earth. He loves it. He was meant to be an outdoorsman.

M and I stay in New Jersey. They have been wonderful enough to open their home to us for the months we will be here. Their home is big and beautiful and chuck full of toys, so Mav is in heaven. I have read three books in two weeks, so I can't say that I am suffering very much. Ches comes home on the weekends, and there is much rejoicing.

That is all.

As we go galavanting

I don't think I have ever made an actual list of goals at the turn of the year.

I want to be accountable. I want to be reminded. I want to accomplish the crap out of some stuff, so

10 things I most hope to accomplish in 2014:

1. Learn at least one new moderately difficult piano piece. Fingers remember thy practice!

2. Make more fresh veggies. Twice a week would be WAY more than currently.

3. Sing somewhere other than in my shower, or over my dirty dishes. In front of some people.

4. Go into New York for a day trip by myself at least once (we will be living close for a few months. I should tell you guys about this soon).

5. Try macaroons

6. Eliminate fat talk from my conversation, and my thoughts...no matter how thin my mother gets.

7. Love my husband better.

8. Read a new book every month. I shall post a list soon.

9. Keep to a budget, which includes ONLY buying things at the grocery store that are on the LIST.

10. Have more creative play for M, otherwise, I shall never remember to teach him his colors or his body parts.

                              

A heaven of sorts

Because who wouldn't be I heaven surrounded by delicious raspberries.

Only evil people.

                                

  

                             

I'll be on the Discovery Channel very soon

My family has taken an annual camping trip up Logan Canyon every with some of our closest friends every summer for the last nine years. There is the perfect natural swimming hole, and that is what continues to pull us back to the same spot over and over.

The water is cold enough that it makes your bone marrow hurt, but whatever. Thats what is means to be wildernessy, so we make that sacrifice

We had a very wildernessy week.

Wildernessy: A time that is filled with being in the wilderness. Or, just being outside a lot.

Wearing chacos for at least one full day is a qualifier. Having plumbing and running water available does not disqualify.

My baby slept soundly through two nights in a tent, so I am basically going to be replacing Bear Grylls. You will be seeing machete packaging with my face on it very soon.

Do you have any fun summer traditions?

Once Upon a Weekend

Ches and I played the name game for about an hour. This is where you say the name of a famous person, i.e. Abraham Lincoln, and the next person has to answer it with another person whose first name starts with the same letter as the previous person's last name. i.e. Laura Ingalls. (I had to mightily defend Ms. Ingalls as a realy famous person) We ended with Krsiti Yamaguchi. I could only think of the name Yvonne, but no one famous to attach to it....google has prepared me for our next match. 

I wanted to start crying 15 minutes into my primary class with the five year olds. They were EVERYWHERE! I really do love children, but I do best with numbers fewer than three, and ages below twelve months. I said many silent prayers for patience, and was grateful for the tub of plato. Good thing those kids were fascinated with florescent orange tortillas and cookies....which TOTALLY had something to do with the lesson on baptism... Give me 36 teenagers anyday.

I noticed we were getting low on food, but became determined to make it until next saturday before we hit the grocery store. I apologized to Chesley in advance for the upcoming slam of pb&j and ramen heavy meals. Its only Monday and I have already made several laps around the apartment waiting for different and more food to appear magically. 

*Tuesday update. Enchiladas took a toll on our cheese supply. I just ate a bean burrito with NO CHEESE because I am trying to conserve it for the grilled cheese I have in mind for later in the week. 

Spent most of one day finishing The Paris Wife. It sucked me in, and made me very sad. The life that is portrayed in that time period and that mind set is a life I would not have been fit for. I am proud to be old too fashioned for the free way they seemed to live. If you like being sad, I highly recommend it. It is written in a lovely way. 

Went on our first explorational drive. The houses here are old and so NEAT! There are two houses that I would buy and live in for the rest of my life despite the fact they are in Minnesota. I only got a picture of one of them, and it doesn't even begin to portray its really loveliness.

Hobbits

Are curious creatures, and I am beginning to understand how they feel in their manner of living. That would be because, I am indeed, living in a hobbit house (that sort of roles off of the tongue doesn't it?)

Husband and I recently moved into a rather small apartment. Although Chesley has been know to be compared to hobbits (if you have not seen this reference click here) I had never really fostered my desire to live like them. I am now regretting that negligence.

Someday I will tell my children,"Your father and I once lived in an apartment with three little hobbit doors, and a little hobbit bedroom where we could only kneel on our knees because...well, although we have done many amazing and spectacularly adventurous things that we can only tell you about in stories because it all happened before you came along, we have never been hobbits!" And they will pelt us with questions about this amazing time in our lives, and ask us to tell them the story again and again.

And we will. It will always begin like this....

Your father and I once lived in an apartment with three little hobbit doors.....

I. Love. Thunder.

and so these huge and dark thunder clouds pleased me greatly. Don't mind my grotesque face, and awkwardly stanced body. And also please disregard the fact that Ashley is enviably tan and adorable. We were the only people for miles, and these huge clouds were rolling in, and we were jumping off of pumice mountains. It was one of the best days ever of all time.

There is just something soul stirring about being in the open where there are no people, and heaven seems to reach down and tell you it is there. This was one of those days.