An East Coast Getaway

I'm sure if there were demerits for blog neglection, I'd get a medal :) So here are some fast and fancy updates in a row from my end of the world. I have to say that when I'm not blogging, I'm also not reading others' blogs. So I feel so out of touch with all of you! Once I do a little noting here, I look forward to perusing the rest of your blog worlds and learning about the news in your corners of the world.

A couple weeks ago I finally got to take a trip out to the East Coast to visit my dear friend Alicia in her new New Jersey digs. As is typical of east coast life, I flew into Philly to go to New Jersey, and while there we spent a couple days in NYC. How I miss the short distances between awesome spaces that the east coast offers :)

Apparently my body is unable to view a vacation as anything other than time to fall to its vulnerability to all the germs I'm exposed to on a daily basis, but am usually too busy to deal with. Just like in Vegas, my throat began hurting on the plane. It got progressively worse, and as in Vegas, I began my quick descension into strep throat. But this time it was epic. Alicia took a photo, but I'll save you from the gross factor of looking at it. One trip to the CVS Minute Clinic was not enough, and after 24 hrs of penicillin I still had to go back for narcotic pain killers and steroids to decrease the swelling. Those suckers were purple and touching, and I was swallowing blood. Yummy.

So my time in New Jersey was spent mostly in the CVS waiting area, in pharmacies, and on Alicia's chair trying to swallow without tears. Luckily the codeine came through the afternoon of our train into the city, and I was able to begin eating again. Which is so super handy since nearly all of our "must do"s in NYC involved the copious eating of foods that withstand the test of time in my memory. I have to say that some were not as amazing as I remembered. Magnolia cupcakes? Eh. Kitchenette's bacon? Eh. But Alice's Tea Cup was every bit as darling and lovely as my memories offered, and sharing it with a life long friend made it so special. That makes memories of two life-long friends and Alice's.... priceless. We enjoyed pizza at Lombardi's, NYC's 1st pizzeria, and saw the 9/11 memorial and the construction of the new Freedom Towers. One of the things I enjoyed the most was a walk through Central Park, and of course seeing the Rockefeller Tree and all the holiday NYC glory. It was a great trip to see a great friend, who is also an amazing hostess. Thank you, Alicia, for everything! From the bottom of my heart. And tonsils.

Footprint of one of the old twin towers

Freedom Tower, lit up for the holidays

Lombardi's! Yum.

Rockefeller Tree

Skating.... one of the 3 rinks we saw on our visit, and each boasted a line that must have touted a wait of HOURS.

My first experience with the High Line, a renovated old rail line above the city (like an outdoor skywalk) in Chelsea. It was a nice walk with interesting architecture and landscaping interwoven all the way through. Sadly, dogs not allowed :( Think of all the walk-hungry pooches in that city!

Oooh, so much inspiration and not a stove in sight.

Chelsea Market.

Ah, Alice's. Not for the faint of carbs.

Leafless tress in the park.

Holiday Peace and Mourning

Christmas this year was a quiet event for us, and we welcomed the opportunity to stay in our pajamas as a family on Christmas day. With no where to go, and no one coming to us, we really enjoyed following the rhythm of the day instead of a schedule of tasks.
We consumed a little too much sugar, played a lot of games, and explored the new toys Santa brought.

Christmas is mellow for us, and we prefer simple to lavish. (I admit that last year was over the top with the addition of a bounce house, but that was a bit out of character for us. And it continues to be an investment that a mom, in winter, in Iowa, with three boys, truly appreciates.) I am humbled that my kids are overjoyed with what Santa brings, though they never "ask" for anything specific, and don't get a heap of stuff. They burst with joy at the Angry Birds band-aids and superhero toothbrushes in their stockings. And when the open boards games that I'm pretty positive they've never heard of, they say things like "How did Santa know that this is exactly what I wanted?!" My kids have somehow now yet caught on to the "list for Santa" thing, and I still have complete control over how much and what they get from Santa. We like to do two gifts per boy (the first is a game that the whole family can share, and the second is a toy specifically chosen for them), and then one joint gift (which this year was a box of MagnaTiles to add to our collection, for more building options. Have I raved about these yet? If I haven't, consider that a future post).

Jack knows most of his classmates own a Nintendo-DS, but it hasn't occurred to him to ask for one. They love the Wii and it continues to be a delicate balance for me to decide when they play it and for how long, but they didn't ask for Wii games for Christmas. They don't ask, period. They are still young enough that they haven't gotten carried away by the "I want" part of this time of year, and I'm giddy with glee that this allows for us to have all joy on Christmas morning, rather than some of the "Hey, I didn't get ___ even though it was on my list!" I know this won't last forever, so I'm cherishing the youth and innocence of our holidays right now. And once we celebrate delayed holiday gift exchanges with extended family, chances are simplicity will go out the door. But for Christmas day, we had 3 ecstatic boys who at their hershey kisses at breakfast and played games as a family all day. It was joyful and peaceful.

I cherished this even more because of the cloud hanging over our holiday season this year after the unspeakable tragedy in Connecticut. I went through a period of denial after first hearing the news when I was in New Jersey, watching some of the coverage while on my first major dose of codeine. I couldn't cope with hearing more. I've avoided Facebook, news coverage, newspapers, you name it. On Christmas eve, though, we watched an old episode of "The Voice" on Tivo and I was caught off-guard by a tribute they did for the victims of that maniac, singing "Alleluia" while each holding a sign with the name and age of the fallen. I saw so many "6"s that I proceeded to sob for the rest of the evening. I finally sat down and allowed ignorance to fade as I read a news report on CNN about the details. I don't know if it helps to know details. It tears us to shreds. Unlike natural disasters, where we can help sort the wreckage, offer our homes as refuge to those fleeing the damage, and make monetary donations to help rebuild lost homes and infrastructure, there is nothing anyone can do after this type of travesty. No donation will take away the pain of a lost child, no amount of counseling can un-do the lost lives. There are no words to express the unthinkable horror that unfolded that day, nor the inexplicable evil that took over the young man who carried it out. I will never understand, and my heart will always be broken for those parents, husbands, wives, children, and friends of the fallen. Knowing that other parents in this country woke up on Christmas morning to one empty stocking and a world of grief and pain casts a dark cloud over me every day. That pain will never go away, and we will all be changed because of it. I cry, and squeeze my children every day even tighter, for lack of knowing what else to do.

New Year's Musings

2013 is quickly approaching, and the end of the year always brings about a fair amount of musing on the year that's coming to an end, and the one about to begin. For whatever reason, I feel much older at the end of this year than I did last year. When I write out the ages of my kiddos.... 6, 4, & 3, they seem much older. They are obviously still young, but this may be the first time I can say I have no "babies" at home, and it's a strange transition to move from parenting the super young to just plain old young. I also see 35 coming up and it causes some introspection on age and growth and goals and life.

I checked back on my blog posting from January of this year to see what my list of "to accomplish this year" items was at the time. Here's what I found:

January 2012

Numbers 2 & 4 did not get done. We talked ad nauseum about the will. It just didn't get sorted out yet. There seem to be no real answers on that one, still. As much as the big 10-yr anniversary trip was anticipated for us, in the end our parents still weren't really comfortable with us being gone an entire week and leaving the kids to them. I think we still need another year of growth for the boys before the grandparents may feel good about that one. On the other hand, we did have a magnificent weekend downtown in March and our short, interesting weekend in Vegas. #5 is definitely an ebb and a flow. Of #6, parts I and II were accomplished, but the Minnesota trip has been planned for spring break this March. Still, it's on the books so I count that as a win.

I'm pleased to see, though, the rest of the list was achieved! Only one of the noted books was actually read, but I did read a few others in place of those noted. I just finished "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" and am both inspired and frustrated. Still trying to finish "Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder," and am getting close. "Parenting Beyond Belief" is next up.

A lot of what I said in January will carry over, as I work on getting to Farrells more often, continuing with my reading list, and keeping up the persistent struggle for balance. Some things are changed--or, at least, altered. I moved out of the book club and am now trying to get off the ground a small monthly family potluck. I feel less starved for time away and more even keel on the family/individual scale. I am really needing to get a good behavior chart made up for the boys, with clearly-depicted expectations and rewards/demerits. I'm having a hard time lately with discipline and consistency of threats vs. real consequences.

I don't have much of an itemized list for 2013, other than taking on a garden in the spring. 3 hours before the blizzard hit late last week, the beginning of our 12x5 ft. raised garden was started outside. It still needs the top boards to raise it up further, and the cow manure from my brother-in-law's farm. That will have to wait until the snow melts and it's warm enough to work with. But come springtime, I hope to not only look forward to our annual CSA membership but also some supplementation from our small garden venture. We were very happy with the canned applesauce and spaghetti sauce from last summer. Unfortunately the pasta sauce only made it till mid-December, so a goal for this year is to supplement with our own tomatoes to bulk up the pantry come winter.

I guess I also want to get around to some deep cleaning on the house. Without a pregnancy foreseen, I can't imagine I'll go through any major nesting phases to help me do this so maybe I need to declare it here with intent :) I do need to shop-vac the entire basement. Being unfinished, it never gets cleaned. Now the dust and hairballs are billowing across the floor down there like crazy. I also wouldn't mind shop-vacing between each of the wooden planks on our main level. It's crazy the stuff you can see between those boards. And as always, the master shower could use a good scrub down. Why is that one so hard?

Here's to also hoping that 2013 brings health for our family and all those around us, both near and far. My sister-in-law is fighting lymphoma for the third time and really needs to get some good news this time around. And above all, let 2013 find us peace. With no more innocent lives lost to anger gone astray, some light on the path to peace for those with unbearable heart break this year.

a wild little thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving this year we did an unconventional type trip and took off to Mahoney State Park in Nebraska. It was the craziest state park I had ever been to, with an indoor play area, ice rink, horse-back riding, craft center, on site lodge and modern cabins, mini golf.... lots of fun, laid back stuff for a family vacation. We stayed in the lodge while my parents had a cabin. The kids loved the daily activities and I loved being away from reality for awhile. The coolest activity we did on this trip was a short half mile drive out of the park to the Wildlife Safari Park. It was the kind of drive-thru zoo where the animals have the right of way :) So very cool.

A few weeks ago Mike celebrated the big 35 with a quiet birthday and night out. 35 is kind of eery to me....being as close to 40 as you are to 30. There might be a midlife crisis in the works for me in the next few months.... :)