Books I've read...part 1

I think I'd like to log here the books I've read with a short one sentence description.  Then I could reference it when people ask me for book recommendations.  Or just send them here.  ;)

I wrote a list in August, so I guess I'll pick up from where I left off there.  Then I'll try to remember to do this a few times a year.

1. The Gift of Rain, Tan Twan Eng   A boy from Penang is torn between loyalties to his white family (he is mixed) and his Japanese sensei when Japan takes over his country during WWII.  It was...meh.  Beautifully written, but it was almost like the author was trying too hard to make it deep and thoughtful.
2. Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn.  If you haven't read this you should.  A man's wife goes missing and he is the primary suspect.  Full of twists and turns, the characters and plot in this book are twisted and unpredictable.  A very fun read.
3. Angle of Repose, Wallace Stegner.  A historian delves into his grandparents' history in the newly settled west through his grandma's letters.  Narrative switches back and forth from the grandson in the present to the grandmother.
4. Lone Wolf, Jodi Picoult.  A brother and sister fight over whether to take their dad off life support after a car accident puts him in a coma.  In classic Picoult style, there is courtroom drama and the characters take turns telling the story...including the voice of the father through his books.  Lots of interesting facts about wolves, since he studied wolves and even lived with them for a bit.
5. Middlesex, Jeffrey Eugenides.  Probably one of my favorite books this year.  It is the story of a hermaphrodite who is raised as a girl until the age of 15.  But it is so much more than that.  A richly layered story going back 3 generations and in the process showing where the mutation in his genes came from.  Very very well written.
6. The Violets of March, Sarah Jio.  A woman finds a diary at her aunt's house and discovers secrets from her family's past along with weird parallels to her own life.  Kind of boring and not well written.
7. 12.21, Dustin Thomason.  An epidemic linked to the ancient Mayans occurs on 12-21-12.  A doctor and Mayan scholar race to find a cure.  This was fun to read right before the actual end of the Mayan calendar.
8. We Need to Talk About Kevin, Lionel Shriver.  In letters written to her husband, a woman tells her life story as well as her son's...trying to understand what went wrong to make her son kill 11 people in a school rampage.  Very timely, now.  
9. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving.  Boy tells the story of himself and his friend who is an instrument of God.  I had a really hard time getting through this one.
10. Crow Lake, Mary Lawson.  Story of 4 orphaned siblings and their small, isolated Canadian town that helps to raise them and keep them from getting split up.  Story is told in flashbacks when the girl comes back to the town for Christmas as an adult.
11. The 19th Wife, David Ebershoff.  Two stories told in juxtaposition...Brigham Young's 19th wife's story from the 1800s and a present day 19th wife accused of killing her husband while her son who was kicked out of the cult tries to prove she didn't do it.
12. The Language of Flowers, Vanessa Diffenbaugh.  A girl raised in foster homes learns to live life emancipated and speaks her emotions through the language of flowers and their Victorian meanings.  Lots of flashbacks to the foster mother who taught her about flowers.  I read this for book club, and I liked it more than I thought I would.  Still not one of my favorites, though.
13. The Boy in the Suitcase, Lene Kaaberbol.  A woman receives a phone call to retrieve a suitcase and finds a boy trapped inside.  A thriller as she is hunted for having the suitcase and tries to find out who he belongs to.
14. The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, Rachel Joyce.  A man in his 60s gets a letter from an old friend who is dying and decides to hand deliver a response...and ends up walking 600 miles to do so.  The story is about his evaluating his life and the people he meets along his journey.
15. The Twelve, Justin Cronin.  This is the sequel to The Passage.  If you liked the first book, you will really like the second.  I felt like he tied up a lot of things that were left hanging, and took us on another adventure...not quite as wild and confusing as the first book's.
16. The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes.  This won awards and stuff.  I really couldn't get into it.  The first part is about this man's childhood friends...and then it flashes to the present when he reconnects with some of them.  Ugh.  Full of philosophical drivel.  Unless you LIKE philosophy.
17. 11/22/63, Stephen King.  This is King at his finest.  This is another of my favorite books this year.  A man from 2011 travels back in time to 1958 through a rabbit hole and decides to try and prevent the Kennedy assassination   And there are layers upon layers to that story as he lives in the past leading up to the assassination.  It is richly layered and full of interesting fun things about the late 50s that make it feel very authentic.  I really recommend this one.
18. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood.  Tale of a future society where fertile women are kept as slaves to propagate the species.  Really weird and a rather unsatisfying ending.
19. The Children of Men, PD James.  In an attempt to get a better ending to a similar idea, I read this book after #18.  Humankind cannot reproduce and society changes as the population ages.  The cousin of the head leader of England is drawn into a rebellion group.  A better ending, but not as well written.
20. The Roots of the Olive Tree, Courtney Miller Santo  This is the story of 5 generations of women who are being researched for their longevity genes.  As the geneticist finds out those secrets, we find out the secrets in each woman's past.  A very satisfying chick book.  I liked it quite a bit.
21. Ape House, Sara Gruen  A bonobo ape sanctuary gets bombed and the apes are sold to an unknown buyer after their handler is harmed in the blast.  She teams up with a reporter to find them and get them back.  This is full of interesting facts about bonobos and well written.  But I didn't find the ending as satisfying as her other book, Like Water for Elephants.
22. This Year It Will Be Different, Maeve Binchy.  A collection of short stories about families at Christmas.  Very typically Maeve Binchy, so if you like her stuff, you will likely like this book.

I'm finishing off the year reading Winter of the World, by Ken Follett.  I just tried The Satanic Verses, because I was curious and it sounded interesting...but I just couldn't get into it.  I'm getting better about putting down books I really am struggling with...but I feel like I need to keep a separate list of those so that I don't just keep re-reading the same books I don't like!

What now?

The car is totally packed.  We have eaten all the leftovers and extra food and finished the last of the milk so that none will be left behind.  Our dog has been sent ahead to Ohio with the Grandparents so that she doesn't terrorize my sister's bunnies when we arrive this evening.

We watch the weather channel.   Our trip is marked almost perfectly on the map!  Except it is marked by a pink stripe of ice/snow/dangerous winds in the mountains.

Oops.

Looks like we'll be delayed a day.

Anyone have any extra milk?

One more year of Christmas magic

Ah.  Another successful, wonderful Christmas.

First, it snowed last night.  Just a touch.  Just a magical little dusting to make it feel like Christmas.  "Let It Snow" was on it the car, and Lily listened for a minute and then gasped and said, "It's just like tonight!  Let it SNOW!"  We went to church last night, and all 3 kids sang in the children's choir.  Then they stood in the live nativity scene while the Christmas story was read from the Bible.  And when they returned to us, they darkened the church, passed around a flame (we each had a candle),and we sang Christmas carols by candlelight.

Michael fell asleep on the 3 minute car ride home.  We woke him up so he could pick out a cookie for Santa.  Andrew went outside to spread the reindeer food that he and Michael had brought home from school.  Lily wrote a note (shocker) to Santa.  "TO SATA  I LOVE YOU"  Andrew wrote a novel about being good and taking care of the reindeer, etc etc.  They all went to bed easily (it was way past their bedtimes).  We made sure to tell them all that they could come get us at 6 (as if), but if they woke Grandma and Grandpa up before that, there would be a penalty, and we wouldn't open gifts until 7.

I went and played in the bell choir for the 11pm service.  I ditched early to try and catch some shut-eye before the kiddos woke up.

Fast forward (but not much) to 5:30am.  We hear Andrew open his door and stumble downstairs...as quiet as a herd of elephants.  He comes barreling back up and barges into our bedroom saying, "I don't care about the penalty, I'll take the penalty, I GOT A HAMSTER FOR CHRISTMAS!!!  SANTA BROUGHT ME A HAMSTER!!!"  Michael and Lily got up right about then (I can't imagine how they knew Andrew was awake), and we proceeded to stall in our bed for a few minutes.  We got Grandma and Grandpa up and started the present opening.

We succeeded in taking turns opening gifts, and the kids were all super excited to watch each other open gifts...although not as excited as opening their own, of course.  They got lots of loot and were totally spoiled, although I'd say Lily kind of got the raw end of the deal.  All she asked for from Santa was a Fijit...so she got it, but it is totally stupid and a waste of time.  So bummer for her.  Maybe next year she'll ask for something cool instead of some dumb robot toy.  :)

I was spoiled rotten...Jeff got me a trip to California to visit my friend Pamela in May...they plotted together to pick a good time and it's all booked and ready to go.  My in-laws got me another Kindle...the new paperwhite one.  You know, because my Fire is stolen by my kids all the time and doesn't work outside or in the glare of the car.  How ridiculous is that?  But I'm not returning it, and I love it so much. :)  And my Kindles talk to each other, so if I'm reading a book, it will always be on the right page, no matter which device I last read on.  Cool.  And my in-laws got Jeff and I tickets to see our favorite comedian...babysitting included.  Plus I got sweaters and workout clothes and blueberry tea (that Michael picked out).

Jeff got 3 cans of pumpkin from Michael (because Daddy likes to make pumpkin pies and pumpkin bread and pumpkin pancakes), a pair of fleece pajama pants with footballs on it from Lily (because he likes to stay warm and he likes football), and Andrew got Jeff lots of Kcup varieties for his morning coffee.  Jeff got expensive gifts and then put the kids names on it.  Cheater.  I call cheating!  He got himself a new iPod touch and I got him a computer bag a few weeks ago, when I thought he was going to France.  Cheater.

It was lovely.  It is 2pm, and the kids are all still in their pj's.  They have been candy grazing all day and getting along, sharing all their new toys very graciously with each other.  It's lovely.  Just wonderfully lovely.

Tomorrow we are supposed to drive to Ohio.  But it's supposed to freezing rain in the mountains.  And then snow and be very windy.  -sigh-

It's Christmas Eve!

Ah, yes.  Christmas Eve.  When anticipation is at its highest and there is nowhere to go and nothing to do and nothing new to play with yet.  This year I was smart and planned some activities for us.  A gingerbread house that actually worked out.  Another batch of cookies to bake...but Jeff ended up doing most of it.  He's a darn good baker.

Now the little ones are playing with Grandma's iPad, and Andrew is watching a taped UD basketball game with his dad, and Grandma and Grandpa are "watching" with them (read: sleeping sitting up on the couch).  I have a roast in the crock pot for dinner, and a chicken and broccoli quiche cooking for lunch.  All the presents are wrapped and ready to go, and I am SO EXCITED to see their faces when they open some of these gifts.  Spoiler alert:  Andrew is getting a dwarf hamster.  OMG.

Anyhoo.  I'll kill some time with funny Michael stories.

Lately, everything that pokes him or bruises him is "Sharping" him.  As in, "Mommy, I fell down and this block sharped me in the eye."  It is very cute.  Jeff and I have taken to using that new verb in our own speech.  As in, "You sharped me when you spilled milk all over the counter."

Yesterday we took the grandparents and kiddos to a local shopping village.  It has been built to look all old-timey and has lots of unique shops.  At Christmas time, the put lights on EVERYTHING, and cook apple cider on a cauldron in the center green...and it is very magical and nice.  We were popping in and out of stores and running through light tunnels, etc etc.  At one point, Lily, Andrew, and I were in a shop entirely devoted to dog and cat stuff (think pads of paper with dogs on them, costumes for dogs, gourmet dog treats, stuffed dogs, etc etc).  Jeff was outside with Michael, and watched as Michael walked into the shop next door...a woman's clothing store that is apparently owned by a non-Christian.  It is very nice inside, but there was not a Christmas decoration anywhere.  Michael did a loop inside the store, and then stormed out.  He went over to Jeff and said disgustedly, "That place HATES Christmas."  Jeff said the expression on his face was priceless.

That's all for now.  I can't wait to see what is in store for us tomorrow morning!  Yippee!

Off to school they went...

I am a very logical person.  I logically know that evil can appear any time, any place.  That being at school is the 2nd safest place for my children.  I mean...if a shooter appeared at the grocery store while I was shopping with them, I'm pretty sure I would be the only one trying to shield and protect my children.  While they are at school, every single adult present would do everything in their power to keep them safe.

I know this logically.  And so I was not afraid to send my children to school yesterday.  I spoke with Andrew and Lily about it before school, assuming that they would hear about it from other students.  I stressed that I felt their school was safe and they should feel safe there also.  I stressed that if they were to learn anything from this tragedy, it is to listen to your teachers, and always do what they tell you...even if it seems really strange at the time (like climb into this cabinet and stay quiet).  Trust your teachers.  They love you.  Trust your school.  They want to protect you.

And then I took them to school, because Monday is cello day, and Andrew hates maneuvering that monster on and off the bus.  (side note:  encourage your child to pick violin, not cello).   And I smiled and kissed Andrew as he waltzed into school.

And then I drove away choking back tears.

WHY?

No amount of logic can quell all of that Momma Bear instinct.  Even though I logically knew school is safe...I wanted my baby bear where I could see him.  Touch him.  Hug him close.  Throw my body in front of his to save him.

I shoved it down pretty quick.  Logic took over.  I refuse to live in fear.

And when I picked him up yesterday afternoon, he practically shouted, "I had a GREAT day at school today.  My cello teachers said..."  all the while Lily was chirping about her new sight word and how they got to finished their movie from Friday and...

I'm glad they went to school.  And I am so so so grateful to their amazing teachers who made it a fun and wonderful December day of school for them.  Just like normal.

Photo dump...backwards!

So I'm dumping photos from my camera on here today.  Unfortunately, I put the pictures on like the old Blogger used to do it...backwards.  So let's go back in time, shall we?

This morning.  Everyone is singing in the children's choir at church today, so they actually cleaned themselves up.  We decided to take Christmas card pictures, even though we are not sending out Christmas cards.  

They basically alternated who had crazy or sleepy eyes.

A few days ago.  Vacuuming with his monster hat on.  It was a party favor at a birthday party we went to last week.  He loves it and wore it for about 2 days straight.

 Lily writing one of her countless notes.  I had to document it.  Also?  The crazy morning hair.  

(not pictured: rats nest on the back of her head)

 Last Sunday we decorated cookies.  It was actually fun!  No one cried that they couldn't eat every cookie they decorated.  No one fought over sprinkles or icing.  It almost makes me want to do this more often.  Almost.

 This is where Shadow sleeps.  In the kids' play house with the pillow pets.  She blends in...kind of like ET in that one scene.  Very cute.

 This girl loves her dog.  Her dog doesn't love her Christmas sweater quite as much.  Especially when it's been 50 degrees for most of the Christmas season this year.

 Andrew opening his gifts.  With the vultures watching on.

 Andrew thanking Lily for her gift.  Isn't he gentle and sweet about it?

 Sweet mother.  We're going to light the house on fire with all those candles!

 A few weeks ago.  Just trying to capture Andrew and Lily in a sweet moment...reading Garfield together.

 While Jeff played Lego's with Mike.  On the kitchen floor.  In front of the fridge.  While I was making dinner.  Michael always chooses the best places to build.

 Did I mention she loves this dog?

 Way back to Andrew's birthday outing.  Here they are waiting to get into the show.

 Posing on the throne.

 Sword fighting.  Of course they are.

 In our seats, waiting for the show to start.

Phew.  There you go.  Our last month or so.  Now off to church I go to watch them sing!

Doing her part to deforest the earth

Lily is learning to write in kindergarten.  They do something called kid writing a few times a week, where the kids draw a picture and then write a sentence about it...to the best of their abilities.  After they are done writing the best that they can, a teacher or volunteer writes the correct spelling underneath.  The hope is that it encourages the children to not worry about being perfect but to just write...the rest will come gradually.

I'll be honest.  I was skeptical when Andrew started Kindergarten.  But it helped Mr. Perfectionist have fun writing.  He loved inventive spelling so much, that he started to do it for everything...even words he knew, like his name.  We had to nip that in the bud pretty quickly, but mostly it was all positive.

Lily has taken to it whole-heartedly.  She used to write a little, but she was constantly asking me to spell things.  I don't know if it is the freedom to not worry about spelling correctly, or the fact that she is reading so well now she just happens to know a lot of words....but MAN.  This girl is writing.

On everything.

Like tables. (okay that was once, and she hasn't done it again since I made her scrub the table clean)

But mostly paper.

Post-it notes.

Lined paper.

White paper.

Scrap paper.

Hundreds of little notes taped on every square inch of the house.  Or stuck on people.  She is constantly running up and sticking notes on us...or often Shadow.

Right now, from the computer, I can see 7 notes.

One is taped to Shadow's cage...it says, "Shadow.  Oooooooooooooo."  (that would be a dog howling, of course.)

One is taped to the side of the counter.  It is a picture of me and says, "MY MOMMY SAD."

One is taped to the dishwasher.  No picture, it just says, "I wat a Big Sissr" (I want a big sister ?!?)

One is taped next to the fridge.  There's a picture of 2 people.  It says, "Lily Loves You.  How Many is taer" (how many is there)

One is a picture of a girl with music notes coming out of her mouth.  It says, "Mom Michael (arrow to picture) Lily S!

Two are taped to the basement door.

One says, "this is my family  mommy and Daddy Andrew Lily Michael and Shadow"

The other has a picture of a unicorn and says, "Andrew Lily Michael  Danbay tiar was a pony beach berry is a viry nays pony" (??? there was a pony.  Beach berry is a very nice pony)

And these are just the ones in the kitchen.  I cannot stress to you how these things are multiplying.  I found one one my pillow last night, for crying out loud.

Of course, it said, "I love you Mommy.  Love your Lily."

Kind of hard to get annoyed by that, right?  Although since Shadow can't read, the dozens of notes taped to her back that read, "I love Shadow.  She is my dog." , are kind of lost on her.  She's just freaked out by the crinkle of paper on her back.

On second thought...conferences updates (read: boring)

Well, the product that Jeff was going to run in France isn't working out so great in the test runs in the lab.  So his trip has been postponed until next Sunday (16th) at least and if they can't get the tests to come out right next week, it will be cancelled all together.  So!  All that fretting about nothing.  As usual.

I had a conference with Michael's teacher yesterday.  So ended the season of conferences.  I had one for Lily and Andrew the week of Thanksgiving and one with Andrew's Humanities teacher (gifted program) last Tuesday.  I am so fortunate that conferences are a very very pleasant experience.  It turns out that all 3 kids are people-pleasing school lovers.  Kind of like their parents.  In a nutshell:

Andrew's teacher loves him.  Of course.  She nodded sympathetically when I complained...again...that math is not challenging him at all.  Then she smiled and nodded as I whipped out the Common Core Standards and pointed out that he has mastered all of the 3rd grade objectives.  And we came up with some lame-ass plan to give him math challenges.  Basically I was told to wait until 4th grade, when there were opportunities in the school for math enrichment.  -sigh-  It's really hard to get more when your kid is just so darn contented in school.  Andrew happily completes all the easy-peasy assignments and absolutely ADORES helping his fellow students.  I am torn between keeping him happy with school and pushing him ahead.  He really should just be in 4th grade math (and reading, and everything else...perhaps a sign we should have staying in California, where he would have made the cutoff date for the higher grade?).  But I will content myself with the fact that he WILL be challenged, we DO challenge him at home, and he is really really a happy gifted kid...which is a blessing.  And I will try and hold back my mother-in-law and husband who pressure me a lot to push for more, but don't actually go to the school conferences.  I am non-confrontational and not the best for this job.

Lily's teacher loves her.  Of course.  She did a conference with the kids first, and Lily said she was best at being a good listener.  Which her teacher whole-heartedly agreed with.  Lily follows directions, is pleasant and cooperative, works well with her peers, and is basically just a great little student.  Her teacher has noticed that she is reading well, and so meets with her separately to work on reading while other students are working on the letter sounds, etc.  The teacher laughed at me when I worried about Lily not being able to add and subtract well.  Turns out that is not a skill kindergartners are expected to know.  It's going to tough following Andrew through school.  My expectations are all skewed.

Andrew's Humanities teacher loves him.  Of course.  She said he is always eager and excited to take on new challenges and works really well with his peers.  She pulled out a math challenge packets and said, "I realize that many of my students aren't being challenged in their regular classes, so I am introducing these packets.  I've got 5 more to keep them busy through the rest of the year."  Fantastic school...it's like she read my mind.  They are doing such cool things in this class, I really wish I could be a part of it.  They are in the geography section right now, and they are playing Geography Survivor.  They have been broken into tribes, and at the start of each class they have tribal council.  Each tribe is given a different challenge to work on (the first day they were given coordinates, and they had to figure out where their tribe was going to be stranded by working out the latitude and longitude.  Since they hadn't exactly studied that yet, it was quite a challenge!)  Really fun stuff.

Michael's teacher loves him.  Of course.  She said he is agreeable and will do whatever she asks...but she can tell when he doesn't like doing something.  Only because his enthusiasm is so great when he likes what he is doing, she can see there is no spark when he's not.  Not too bad.  He is pretty dependent socially on one boy in the class (someone we know outside of school).  This boy just left yesterday for a month in Australia visiting his grandparents.  So we are a bit concerned how he will do in school.  I think it will be good for him.  She mentioned that he is simply amazing with spacial concepts...like patterns, building, etc.  Which we know...but she said that she has literally stopped the class from free play to come and see something that Michael has built.  Cool.  He needs to work on his shapes (?)...I've missed that somehow at home.  He hates cutting and singing...but will do it when asked.  Basically he's right on track and a joyful and cooperative student.


So...thanks once again to my children for making me look good.  I've simply been blessed with good-natured people pleasers.  Which may be my doing, since I gave it to them genetically and managed not to ruin it in the last few years.  Other than that, the credit goes to them.  They are simply really really great kids.

Bah-humbug...or just boring?

So it comes around every year.  I love Christmas.  LOVE.  But each December I worry that I am not doing Christmas well.  We don't have lots of cute Christmas traditions, I don't like to bake or decorate or do crafts (all pre-requisites for good Christmas traditions), life doesn't seem more magical or special than usual.  I refuse to do the damn Elf on a Shelf nonsense, I don't scare the kids into being good with threats of the big man up North, we don't dress up in 1800s garb and serenade the neighbors with Christmas carols.  We kind of suck, big time, when it comes to Christmas.

If I truly felt bad about it, I'd do something different next year, right?  Obviously I don't care that much.

Somehow, despite being non-crafty and non-decoratey...we manage to have a great Christmas every year anyway.  We have our own lame-o traditions...like making a big fuss decorating the tree and listening to our favorite Christmas albums and reading huge stacks of Christmas books.  I don't know.  Whatever.  My favorite part of Christmas was always the family time...sitting around and just enjoying each other's company and watching people open gifts that you picked out just for them.  We still do that.



I am not planning on sending out Christmas cards this year.  I feel like there is no reason to.  Most people on my Christmas card list are on Facebook, and for everyone else?  Well...the kids look pretty much the same, our lives are pretty much the same.  I contemplated writing a Christmas letter that said:

S------ CHRISTMAS LETTER 2012.

Please reference last year's letter and add a year to each person's age.  

Have a great 2013!

          But I decided that would be a waste of stamps.  So I think I'll just skip it this year and then send out one next year.  Unless nothing has changed.  Well, at least the kids will look 2 years older :)  

This is just another sign that we have entered the blissfully uneventful, unexciting time of life.  It's really not too bad!  When you are first married and then first have a child, you are like a first-born...everything you do is new and exciting and people are all paying attention and sitting on the edge of their seats to hear what is happening in your life.  Then, when you have been married 13 years, and your children are just normal knobby-kneed kids, you are kind of like the middle child.  People love you and will listen to what is happening if forced...but generally you just kind of blend into the background and are uninteresting...everyone has been there, done that.  Being a middle child myself, I find this stage very comfortable.  I LIKE being boring.  Bring it on, BORING.  That means we haven't moved, divorced, had another baby, lost our jobs...exciting is terrifying.  Boring is good.  

However, boring makes for a really dull Christmas card.  So no go this year.

Jeff's work is planning on sending him on a trip just before Christmas.  He is either leaving Sunday (9th), next Wednesday (12th), or the following Sunday (16th).  He will be in France until the 21st or 22nd.  Which is...sigh...fine I guess.  I mean, he'll be back in time for Christmas.  But...sigh.  This does not help with my favorite part of Christmas...the being together part.  And it means I'll be missing some Christmas-y parties with my girlfriends...a cookie exchange with people I haven't seen in 9 months and book club.  Bummer.  Last year I missed the cookie exchange because of head lice.  So I guess this is better than that?  Also, I will be baking alone with the kids and going to the Christmas-y light outings alone with them and shopping alone. I mean, if I had my shit together, we could technically go and do this on Saturday together.  But 2 of our 3 toilets aren't working, so Jeff has got a big Saturday planned fixing toilets.  Yippee!  Home ownership is fun!

Oh, dear.  That was very bah-humbugy.  We knew that this job would involve travel.  So that's fine.  He'll probably be in Asia for a few weeks in the spring.  So that is yucky.  And he thinks I'll be going back to work full time someday!  HA HA!  Who exactly would watch the children while he is traveling?  HA HA HA!

Oh, dear.  This is becoming a venting post about Jeff traveling.  Must not.  He has a wonderfully stable, good-paying job that allows me to stay at home and NOT bake or decorate.  I am thankful.  Truly.  

Okay, enough of that.  I'm off to plan what cookies we are baking this year.  Yes, I do several varieties despite my dislike of baking.  Christmas...it's all about making other people happy.  And cookies make my people happy :)

Discussions about Santa

With Andrew at our solo donut breakfast this week:

Me:  So, do you and your friends ever talk about Santa?
Andrew: Nah.  Not really.
-pause in conversation-
A: I have 3 theories about Santa.
Me: Really?
A: Number 1- Santa brings the presents.  Number 2- Some other magical force brings the presents.  Number 3: You and Dad bring the presents.
Me:  Wow.  Those are 3 very conflicting theories.
A: Yah.  Right now Number 1 is the most believable.  Number 3 is the least likely.


Jeff and I agreed that if he asked any questions about Santa this year, we would come clean.  But I have a feeling he won't be asking any questions.  He's got it all figured out in his head somehow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My parents and I took Lily and Michael to sit on Santa's lap Monday morning.  It was the first year ever that Michael just hopped up on Santa's lap and cooperated.  The Santa was a little dazed and forgot to ask the kids what they wanted...the photo elf had to remind him to ask.  Nice.

Later that day, Lily and I had this conversation:

Lily: Mom?  Is the Santa at the mall the REAL Santa?
Me:  No, of course not.  We've talked about this before.  Santa hires helpers to dress up like him and gather information.  He just is too busy to be at every mall.  So he depends on his helpers to find out what you want and then give him the info.
Lily:  I didn't think that Santa was real.  When I was 4, I thought it was the real Santa, but now I know the real Santa is very busy.  Do you think he heard what I said to tell Santa?
Me: Maybe...he seemed to have a hard time hearing, didn't he.
Lily:  Yah.  Maybe we should send a letter just in case.

Amazing Andrew turns 9

Dude.  Andrew is NINE.  Nine.  9.  Just...wow.

I realized that I've been updating my Facebook page quite a bit lately...putting a funny story down or whatever.  And that's been taking the place of my blog.  I think it's because so many more people comment or respond to a Facebook post.  Which is silly and a bit needy of me.  Because it is sooo much better to post on HERE...because I can actually come back and read in this space.  So I'm going to try and write HERE when I feel like just posting a quickie on Facebook.

Anyhoo...Andrew turned 9 on Tuesday.  We celebrated twice...on Saturday we took he and a friend to Medieval Times, a super cool live action show, with knights dueling, and horse tricks, and even a falconer.  Andrew got knighted (because it was his birthday and we were willing to shell out the dough).  He and his friend were captivated by the whole event.  And his friend just kept saying to Jeff, "THIS IS AWESOME.  YOU COULD HAVE PICKED 7 MILLION PEOPLE AND YOU PICKED ME.  THANK YOU SO MUCH.  THIS IS THE MOST AWESOME DAY OF MY LIFE."  

Which makes you really glad you brought that particular friend, right?  When I was volunteering at the school library the following Monday, Ben once again came up to me and said, "Thank you again for taking me.  It was the most awesome day of my life."

On Tuesday, he had to go to school.  So my parents stayed at home with the younger two while I took Andrew to Dunkin' Donuts for a pre-school treat.  Then Jeff got home at 4 pm...just so Andrew wouldn't have to wait to open his gifts once he got home from school.  Isn't he a great dad?  Andrew opened gifts and played...took a break to do homework...and then played some more.  We had his requested dinner...garlic sauteed shrimp with broccoli and couscous...and his requested cake...vanilla cake with vanilla icing and DOTS candy all over the top.

I think it was a good birthday.  Certainly better than my 9th was...(the moving truck actually came to our house on my 9th birthday.  My mom reminds me that I actually had a party that year...and I remind her that it was a birthday/goodbye party which makes it sad rather than happy.)

But enough about my scarring childhood memories...Hooray for Andrew!

Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving!

We are going to Jeff's cousin's house for dinner today.  They live about 50 minutes away. Jeff's grandma and aunt will also be there.  Ellie has told me that I'm not to bring anything, so I feel kind of like a teenager going to Thanksgiving dinner this year. Except instead of just showing up and sitting on the couch all day, I'll also bring 3 rowdy kids to fill her house with noise and mess.  Aren't I just a peach of a guest?  Yet DJ and Ellie continue to invite us to holiday dinners.  Which means so so much when you don't have your own parents and siblings around to celebrate with.

Of course, on Friday my parents will arrive.  And we'll have another Thanksgiving dinner sometime during their visit.  Yummo.  Let's hope my kids like turkey a bit more than they have in the past.

Saturday, we are taking Andrew on his birthday "party" celebration.  We don't really DO parties so much around here.  So Andrew chose to take his best friend to Medieval Times .  Andrew has never been there, and we are anticipating having a very good time.  And, yes, I realize our little birthday expeditions (like Lily's NYC), probably cost more than an actual birthday party would.  But I enjoy them sooooo much more ;)

Oh dear.  I am rambling.  I just wanted to take down the whiny post about being busy so it wouldn't be up on Thanksgiving.

I am extraordinarily thankful for this little life I've been given.  I am blessed beyond words.  Healthy kids and spouse.  Loving and generous family.  Kind and fun friends.  A comfortable homey home filled with stuff we don't need but enjoy none-the-less.  Books.  Thank heavens for authors that take me to another world to expand my own little life view.  A partner in life who makes me laugh every day and after 17 years I still just want to hang out with.  Three unique and truly amazing children that exasperate and fill me with joy and pride every day.

I am thankful.  Have a great holiday!

One sport at a time...

I have always said that the kids will be a "one sport at a time" kind of kids.  I watch other families ship their kids from one practice to another...often overlapping.  Yuck.

But here we are.  Soccer is over.  Except that there is this intramural tournament.  Each coach of the 3rd grade intramurals got to pick their 3 best players to play.  Andrew was picked, but I wasn't even going to tell him and decline because travel basketball has started up.  But Jeff thought it would be really good for Andrew's self-esteem and confidence playing if he knew and played in the tournament.  He's right of course, but the overlapping practices are driving me crazy.

Here's how our evening have been this week:

Sunday:  late afternoon basketball practice for the travel basketball team
Monday: swim lessons after school for Michael and Lily.  Those are over pretty early, but messed with dinner making.
Tuesday: soccer practice for Andrew from 7-8.  Imagine how cold it was.  Insanity.
Wednesday: basketball practice for travel basketball 6:30-8
Thursday: Michael's school has a little harvest social...he'll sing and then we'll have snacks.  6:30-8
Friday: Andrew has another soccer practice from 6-8.  There is also the school book fair at Barnes and Noble from 6-8.
Saturday: All day soccer tournament.  All.  Day.  8-3.  Ugh.  He will be missing basketball clinics for the intramural basketball that he is required to play in while playing travel.

Add this into Jeff having an incredibly stressful and busy week at work.  Add in that my younger two are used to going to bed between 7 and 7:30.  Add in that my car desperately needs an oil change and the driver side window fixed (keeps leaking on me).  Which they can't/won't fix on the weekend, so I have to schlep myself to the shop and shuttle back home...and hope that Jeff gets home in time for us to go get the van before Michael's harvest social tonight.  Not going to happen.  Which means I've got to bribe a friend to take me Friday morning.

Whatever.  Next week will be better, right?  Oh, wait.  It's Thanksgiving week.  HOW THE HECK DID THAT HAPPEN?  I've really got to get some presents for Andrew.  Yikes.

Deep breaths.  And don't remind me that I only have one child in sports so far.  This will not be possible with 3 kids.  Then they will HAVE to choose one sport.  And forget tournaments or travel teams.  It is simply ridiculous!

My love of the library by the numbers

I keep a log of the books I read.  You all know that, right?

So I was writing down my latest just now, The Sense of an Ending, by Julian Barnes...a snooze fest full of philosophical navel gazing, if you ask me...also won some prestigious prize in England...apparently I have bad taste in books.  It doesn't bother me in the least that I didn't like this book, because I borrowed the e-book from the library right onto my Kindle.  No money spent...not even a trip to the library wasted.  Love this library thing.

I decided it would be interesting to go back and count how many books I've checked out and how many I've bought.  How much money I've saved.

As you know, I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas last year.  My one worry was that I would stop using the library as much and start buying books.  For someone who reads as much as me, that is an expensive proposition.  Would we have to start turning down the heat?  Take out a second mortgage?  Stop feeding the children?  Then I figured out how to use their e-book system and have not looked back since.

So here are the numbers:

2 = total number of paper books that I have bought and read this year.

1 = total number of e-books I have bought for my Kindle

1 = total number of paper books that I read that have been sitting on my shelf for so long I can't remember if I bought them or not.

5 = total number of free e-books that I downloaded and read.

17 = number of paper books that I have borrowed from the library or from a friend.

24 = number of e-books I have borrowed from the library and enjoyed on my Kindle



50 = total number of books that I have read so far in 2012.  This only counts books that I have finished...I have set several aside this year that I couldn't stand...getting wimpy.  Also it skews the figures a bit, since I know I bought one book that I never finished.  But I started and left behind more library books...maybe 4 or 5?

If we try and make the math easy, let's just say that a book costs an average of $10.  Many of mine would cost more since they were new releases or large books.  Some would be less since they are older releases or e-books that cost a teeny bit less than the regular price.

That means I spent $40 on books this year.

And I saved $460 by getting the books from the library.

And I'm not even counting the children's books we have enjoyed!  Or the movies!  All the kids movies we get and enjoy!  Or the music!  That we pirate enjoy and then return responsibly.

Damn.  I deserve to go out an buy some new pants and shirts.  Look at the money I saved this year!

Not meant to be

My poor kids.  Halloween just wasn't meant to be this year.  No Halloween fairy could've saved it.  It was doomed.

Last week...on actual Halloween...we didn't have power.  So our town sent out a notice via the school district that trick-or-treating was postponed until Wednesday, November 7th.

And now we are being hit by a nor'easter.  Winter Storm Athena, is what they are eagerly calling it.  It is 32 degrees, sleeting, and slushy out.  PLUS, because of Daylight Savings, it is DARK AS HECK.

So we had to break the new to the kids that there would be no trick-or-treating around the neighborhood this year.  They were disappointed, to be sure.  But they are good kids.  Such amazingly good kids.  And they accepted it without throwing fits or crying tears.

And then we had them dress up.  I took the bowl of candy intended for other children, and hid in Michael's room.  Andrew, Lily, and Michael came and knocked on the door.  When I opened it, I pretended that I was seeing them for the first time, commenting on their costumes, etc.  They said trick or treat.  I told them to pick 3 candies from the bowl.

Then I ran around them and closed myself up into Andrew's bedroom.  And then to Lily's.  And our bedroom.  Our closet.  Our bathroom.  The kids' bathroom.  The downstairs bathroom.

I did different voices for each "door" that they knocked on.  Old women, Swedish chef, grumpy old lady, obnoxious lady that pinches their cheeks.  Sometimes they got to take one candy, sometimes 3, sometimes I doled it out.  They were rolling with laughter and eagerly running from door to door to get more treats and more giggles.  They ended up with a bag full of candy (albeit not much variety).

Jeff pretended to check their candy for razor blades when they got back to the kitchen table.  They laughed some more about the Swedish chef voice as they shoveled M&Ms and Twix bars into their mouths.  Lily said, "Even though we didn't get to go trick or treating, we DID."  Andrew said, "It felt good to just say trick or treat."  Michael's mouth was too full of chocolate to say anything.

Who knows?  Maybe this will be the Halloween they remember for ever.  It will be the most momentous year for me, I'm sure.  Damn Sandy.  And Athena.

Bad excuse, Michael

Upon learning that we were having something new for dinner...Swedish meatballs...Michael announced,

"I don't like those.  I tried them once before I was born, and I didn't like them."


Nice try kid.  But maybe he was right...he tried a microscopic bite and didn't like them.  Amazing how he knew ahead of time (grumble, grumble, grumble).


Also, he was helpful when Andrew had a question for us during dinner:

Andrew:  Mom?  What if I don't like the meatballs, but I want to eat the noodles underneath?  What then?

Michael:  You can just scoop them right into the sink.  Down the dark hole.


Trouble, that one.

Sandy

Oh, Sandy.  What damage you have wrecked in New York and New Jersey.  Pennsylvania and Ohio too.  

We are back.  Well, the power is back, at least.  

Monday it rained steadily all day, although nothing unusual.  There was no school, Jeff had no work, so we just kind of sat around and waited for this big storm.  The wind was strong, but again, nothing unusual.  About 5 pm, on Monday night, we watched the weather channel reporters orgasm as Sandy's eye made landfall.  And I shrugged at the kids and commented on how it hadn't been that bad, and I guess we weren't going to lose power.  TV got shut off, and we moved on with our day.

Foolish, foolish me.

An hour or so later, the lights started flickering.  The wind also picked up quite a bit.

By 7, it was time to get the kids ready for bed.  We gave everyone a flashlight on their nightstands.  I tucked Michael in and explained that if he woke up and his clock wasn't on, he could use the flashlight.  He said, "Or I could just turn on my lamp."  Not quite, buddy.  

We had just put Michael to bed and Lily was brushing her teeth.  And everything just shut down.  Lily started shrieking and Michael came quickly out of his room.  We agreed to let them sleep together just to calm them down.  Amazingly, although the wind was howling, they fell right to sleep.  Andrew went to bed soon after and also had no problems.

Shadow was having problems.  She was shaking and panting and I was pretty sure she was going to have a heart attack.  Poor baby.  We moved her cage up into our room so she wouldn't have to be alone.  Jeff and I didn't sleep real well.  The wind was just HOWLING...and the occasional loud cracks made us nervous to be sure.  By 1am, all was quiet.  Really, really quiet. 

At 4 am, Michael and Lily woke up.  I ushered them back to bed, but I could hear all their chit-chatting.  At one point, I heard Michael say, "Lily?  When are Mom and Dad going to put new batteries in the house?"  Makes sense...everything else he deals with gets fixed with new batteries.  Cutie thought we were just delaying putting new batteries in for fun.

Tuesday, we waited for the sun to rise.  That was the worst few hours without power...from when the kids woke up at 5 until the sun rose at 7:30 or so.  Nothing to do.  

Once the sun came up, we played board games, read lots and lots of books, and carved pumpkins.  Jeff had no work, so he was hanging out with us.  We took lots of walks and surveyed the damages in our little neighborhood.  Our gas stove top worked, so we ate grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch.  Our water continued to run as well, so dishes weren't a problem and we had plenty of water to boil and toilets that flushed.  Not too bad, all in all.  A little stir crazy...the worst was just having zero information.  Radio programming sucks.  Lots of traffic and weather, but no real info.  And we tried lots of different AM stations.  Just sitting around not knowing if New Jersey was still there or if the Delaware River had flooded and we stuck for weeks.  Nothing.

We went to bed Tuesday night with no power still, but Jeff had gotten word that he could go back to work on Wednesday.  Our gym regained power late Tuesday night.  So Wednesday, I got up with the kids and we went to the gym.  I watched the news as I ran, and the kids got to watch some cartoons in the kids club. I recharged the Kindle and my phone.  It was heavenly.  Then we went to the library, which had never lost power.  Lily had her 6 year old well visit.  We started to feel normal.  Until we went to go out to lunch after Lily's appointment.  We made the mistake of going back to our town (all the rest of those places are in towns near by).  Nothing had power.  So we went home and had Halloween peanut butter sandwiches.

Recipe:

1 piece of bread spread with peanut butter
+
Halloween candy raided from stash...since trick or treat was cancelled anyway
+
Lots and lots of creativity
=
Super yummy and fun sandwiches

We putzed around for the rest of the afternoon.  Lots of books and board games.  We met Jeff at a restaurant for dinner and again kind of forgot about no power.  Came back to a completely dark neighborhood.  Started getting ready for bed.  At 7:30, I had tucked the littles into bed and Andrew was finishing a logic problem by candlelight.  And, Alleluia!  Power came back on!


So we're fine.  A few points that I am super annoyed with...

1)  Radio.  Seriously, folks.  When there are wide spread power outages, we need more info to be given out by radio.  And don't just refer us to your website for more information (they kept saying things like, for more info go to CBS.com.  Thanks.  Why do you think I'm listening to the radio?  BECAUSE I HAVE NO OTHER SOURCE OF INFORMATION)

2)  We are now living in a society where it is ASSUMED you have a smart phone.  Michael pre-school was apparently communicating solely by e-mail.  Which I couldn't get because I don't have internet if I don't have electricity.  The older kids' school district had automated calls that said, "Due to weather related circumstances, there will be no school.  See our website for more info."  Once I finally got to the website last night, there was all this info about how our particular school had roof damage, and there would be no school until Monday at the earliest.  But if I still had no power, I wouldn't know that.  They just assumed I would be able to pick it up on my phone.  Even if I DID have a smart phone, I might not be getting service.  I have a friend who had no phone service for 24 hours after the storm hit.  It just proves my point that we are WAY too dependent on cell phones.

3)  We are getting our phone service through our cable provider.  But the phone jacks don't work.  So when there is no power, there is no phone service.  Why the heck do we still have a land line, then?

Gripe, gripe, gripe!  It really is good to be back!

  

Our week

Our weekly magnetic calendar on the fridge has really cleared up.  Everything has been cancelled for Monday and Tuesday.

But we are really hopeful that come Wednesday, there will be more of this:

Although with more robot (Andrew's actual costume), and less of the scary, dumpy-looking witch.

At least we had fun at a Halloween party before the end of the world storm hits.  Best wishes folks!  Here's to hoping that we won't lose power for too long.  And it looks like the eye of the storm may pass right over us (we're right next to Trenton, NJ).  That sounds like a cool experience.  I reserve the right to change my mind.

Why, yes, he IS tall for his age

His whole life, when Andrew has entered a room, we get comments on his size.  It started the day he was born, and will probably continue until he reaches adulthood.  We get it.  He's big.

It doesn't bother me at all.  It's mildly amusing at the most.  It's just the first thing to say about him, I guess.  Like when I meet new people and the conversation goes like this...almost every time:

"Hi!  Nice to meet you.  My name is Jen.  What's yours?"
"Giselle"
"What?"
"Giselle"
"Oh..heh...heh...erm...okay."  And they nervously refuse to attempt my name ever again.

Last night were basketball tryouts for the 3rd grade travel team.  In talking to other parents, it always goes,

"Which one is your son?"
"Andrew, in the red shirt."
"Oh.  Wow.  Is he really tall?"
"Why, yes, he IS tall for his age."


But the funniest conversation regarding this was one I overheard between Andrew and another boy on his soccer team during a game last weekend.  Keep in mind that Andrew is in the 8&9 year old league...so he is right in the middle age wise.

Sam: "Where do you go to school, Andrew?"
Andrew: "I'm at G. Elementary."
S: "Oh!  No wonder I don't recognize you from school.  And you are in 4th grade?"
A: "No, I'm in 3rd."
S: "REALLY?  You are really tall.  I mean, I'm the tallest boy in 4th grade at S. Elementary and you are taller than me.  WOW.  Are you just really old for 3rd grade?"
A: -shrugging- "Nah, I'm only 8."
S: "That's amazing.  Hey, I'm part Hungarian, English, and German.  How about you?"


And on and on their conversation went.  While a game was going on.  It was so hilarious.  At least they weren't talking about bodily functions.  Right then, anyway.

Birthday quandries

Andrew's birthday is coming up.  He is going to be 9.  NINE.  And as my "helpful" friend Pamela pointed out, that is the halfway point to adulthood.  Now that's all I can think about.  I'm halfway done with him being MINE.  Realistically less...since what 16 year old boy wants to belong to his mother.  :)

Anyway, we're back to the problem of what to get Andrew for his birthday.

Problems:

1)  He is a 9 year old boy who doesn't like to build with Legos or make gross stuff in an experiment kit.  Those are pretty much your options in the toy store for a 9 year old boy.

2)  Andrew doesn't really play with toys anymore.  He'll play while his brother and sister play...but just for a minute or two.  Action figures, model cars, etc., are really a thing of the past for him.

3) His birthday is basically in the winter, so getting him outdoor sports things is a mean mean tease of a gift.

4) He doesn't enjoy crafty/artsy things very much.  Occasionally he will sit down and paint/sketch/craft...but it is mostly a struggle to make him do these things.  He gets that gene quite strongly from me.

5)  He loves computer/video games, but I feel like he already has so many with so little time to actually play them.

6) He would love to get an iPad or an iPod touch...but come on.  Have we met?


Andrew is everything I want a kid to be...he isn't materialistic or needy, he doesn't want for much.  He is content with what he has.  He almost never asks for "stuff".  In fact, he much more frequently will out of the blue say, "Mom?  I really like our life.  We are really lucky."  Which is GRAND...except for 2 times a year when I wish he would be a little more greedy so I could get ideas for birthday and Christmas.

So.  What to get him.  Last Christmas when faced with this quandary, I ended up getting him a tadpole kit.  Which was a HUGE HIT.  And he did a really good job taking care of it.   I just hated going to the pet store each week to get live crickets...and then keeping the crickets alive in a separate cage with separate food.  Ugh.  I wish there was some "Future Actuarial" kit filled with graph paper and charts and books filled with statistics.  He would LOVE that.

***I realize that I paint a picture here of Andrew that makes him seem like a pocket-protector using nerdlinger.  He really is quite well socialized...and will play with whatever other kids are playing with when he is with them.  But when he is on his own...he just doesn't have much that he likes to do.  I mean, right now, he is going through a book of the presidents and making a chart of when their birthdays are.  He wanted to know which month had the most.  He thought of this all on his own.  Okay...maybe he IS a nerdlinger.

Future diaper-free and future mommy

Michael is getting really really close to being dry at night.  He potty trained in July of 2011, but he's just never been dry at night.  The other 2 kids were night trained within a month of being day trained.  But not my hard sleeper.  I've not been worried about it.  It's one diaper a day...not breaking the bank.

The last month or so, he's started coming into my bedroom at night with some lame-o excuse.

"I had a nightmare"
"I can't sleep"
"I need to sleep in your bed"

All strange for him.  So I always asked him to try and go potty...and lo and behold, he had to pee like a racehorse.  So his body was starting to wake him up, but he had no freakin' clue why.  Also?  He is scared to be alone...ever...so I think he just needs someone to be awake with him when he is wandering the upstairs.

In the last week, he has woken me up almost every night.  For no reason than to go to the bathroom.  This is real progress!  He's been dry almost every morning.  We're reaching the homestretch people!  And last night I opened a new bag of pull-ups, and Michael started crying and saying, "I don't want to wear diapers.  I am done with diapers!"  So we now have a chart, and if he stays dry for a certain number of nights, we will forgo the diapers.

Look for next week's blog entitled:  Changing the sheets twice a night!  Hooray!

As a side note, when we were gone this past weekend, Michael had to wake up his grandmother instead of me in the middle of the night for potty company.  All visitors stay in Lily's room, since we have crammed the queen sized bed into her room, and she sleeps on the floor of Andrew's room.  So Michael visited Lily's room for a few nights in order to get Grandma.

Monday night, my in-laws were back in Ohio, and Lily was back in her bed.  At 1am, I bolt upright as I hear Michael enter Lily's room and start talking.  I heard him tell her that he needed to go potty.  By the time I got to the door, Lily was sleepily getting out of bed to walk him to the bathroom...no protests or questions.  Isn't that sweet?  Just getting up in the middle of the night to watch a kid pee.  Her future mothering skills are already deep in place.  I, of course, sent her back to bed quickly and accompanied him myself.

Race weekend

Jeff and I lived it up again this weekend.  Jeff's parents came up to watch the kiddos and we headed up to Newport, RI for a race weekend.

Friday, after a 5 hour (or so) drive, we arrived in this quaint New England coastal town.  It felt a lot like the town we live in...except 10 times bigger and our town is neither in New England nor is it coastal.  But the old buildings, small shops and restaurants, seeping with history...that part felt the same.

The first thing we did was the Cliff Walk.  This is a historical trail right along the ocean.  Richy rich RICH people built their mansions along the coast, but rather than gobble up all the property to the water's edge, left this trail for peons like us to saunter through.  It was gorgeous and gave us an idea of the glorious homes built in this area.

We thought this place was one of the Vanderbuilt mansions.  Turns out it was part of the Salve Regina college campus.  Nice campus.

This is what part of the trail was like.  

We walked past this one and were so excited to see people inside touring.  We took the tour on Saturday and learned that it was a private residence until 1993.  Amazing.

We finished off Friday by stopping by registration for our races, wandering around town, and eating dinner at a very good Italian place.

Saturday morning, my race was at 7:30, but we had to be there at 7.  It was 37 degrees out.  But sunny and not at all windy (something we would appreciate once Sunday/Jeff's race rolled around).

Here I am, all bundled up at the start point of the race.  Pretty nice place to run, eh?  Too bad my feet were so numb.  And I didn't get to wear my funny race day shirt ("If it weren't for people like me you'd have no one to pass")  That was kind of a bummer, but at least I was warm (ish)

Lining up.  Also...I am not good at smiling for the camera.

After I left, Jeff got a bit bored waiting for me.  This race was no where near anything, and yet was too short to leave and fill the time.  So he just had to stand in the freezing cold and play with his camera while he waited for me to come back around.

Race way.  Nice, right?

Here I come!  

Determined to not look like I'm dying as I cross the finish line.  I ended up finishing in 32:50 minutes...which is 3 full minutes faster than last year.  I was pleased with that time...but I didn't feel nearly as victorious as I did last year.  I knew I could finish this time...I run 3 miles every time I go out to run.  Still a really fun place to run, though.

After I got showered up and changed, we toured a few houses.  This one belonged to the Dukes...as in Duke University.  

Standing in their backyard.  No pictures were allowed inside the house.

Then we went to the most famous one, The Breakers.  It was impressive.  Fantastic.  Ridiculous.  But beautiful.

Sunday morning was Jeff's race.  It was 20 degrees warmer...but the wind was AWFUL.  Just awful.  Sand spitting in your face, steady wind offering a constant resistance to run against.  Poor guy.  Especially since he was running the half marathon (13.1 miles).  That's 2 hours of running with wind and sand smacking you in the face.  Ugh.  Just...ugh.

Waiting for the race to start.  

Lining up.  My race had 250 runners.  Jeff's had 4000.  

And they're off!

I didn't play around with the camera while I waited for him.  Our hotel was right across the street, so I went and finished my book.  I did show up a few hours later when Jeff crossed the finish line.  He finished in 1 hour 53 minutes.  Not what he was hoping for...but the WIND, my GOD, THE WIND!

Jeff limped around for a few hours and then we headed back to PA.  We stopped to visit some friends in Stamford, CT and had a very nice dinner with them and their girls.  Got back home around 10:30, and found out that while we were gone, our van battery had died, stranding my in-laws at the gym, a deer had hit the front of our car on their way home from soccer practice, the bathtub sliding door had wrenched clear off it's base, and I'm sure a few other things.  They also had to maneuver through school drop off and pick ups, soccer practices, soccer games, lacrosse practices, Sunday school.   We owe them BIG TIME for this wonderful weekend we had.  Of course they were nothing but gracious, pretending that it was US that did them the favor by letting them watch the children.  Ha-HA.  But it is nice to be so loved that they want us to be able to have time alone like this.  I will pay it forward when my own children need some time to enjoy their own marriages.  But I might skip a soccer practice or two with my grandkids.