Cooler Than Me

I'm approaching the one year mark on my last big e-mail update. Yowza!

Abby successfully navigated through her year of preschool and is now embarking on the adventure we call kindergarten. She loves riding the bus. She loves her teacher. And she also seems to be in love with a boy named Brent.

Lauren is now a preschooler and basking in its glory. She rode the bus on her first field trip last Friday and loved it. She is also in love. At first it was Connor, but she also is quite fond of a little guy named Jacob. As far as I know she is also still in love with one of the hockey players living at Mom & Dad's. She has a big heart!

Both girls made it through their first year of gymnastics. Not only did they love it, but they were successful enough at mastering skills that they were invited to participate in Level 1; they are now pre-team.

Geoff is still in the job he started last September. It's a high-stress, management level position. A lot of overtime. A lot of trips to DC & San Diego. A lot of comp time he was able to use for vacations this summer to Washington & Minnesota, so there was some payoff.

This summer was honestly our best summer yet! We started it off with a bang: two weeks with Geoff's family in Washington. We followed it up with our usual journey to Minnesota for a month. I went with my cousin, Shawn, to a Twins game (love Target Field!), we also went up to the cabin for a little R&R, and Geoff made a surprise trip home for our last week there--the two of us took a short trip to Duluth. While one month sounds like a long time, I had my car in to be serviced FIVE TIMES in those four weeks, so needless-to-say I didn't get to do nearly as much as I would have liked. Out of all we experienced this summer, the girls will both say their highlight was seeing a bear at the cabin. It was one of my highlights, too. But honestly, the entire summer was a blast!

Our summer was cut shorter than most. I was offered a job at the girls' preschool, so we left Minnesota just before the big Steele County Free Fair (a cardinal sin in Owatonna, I know) to get my affairs in order for work and school. School starts earlier in Ohio than in normal places, so we've been back into the groove for a month now. My new job is a perfect fit for me. I don't start until 9, which means I am home to put Abby on the bus. And I get off work at 2, so I'm home before she returns in the afternoon. Lauren goes to school five days a week, versus the three days Abby did last year, and Abby can come to work with me on her days off. Perfect! I work with toddlers, so it's a bit of a stretch on my El Ed degree, but then again, so was teaching high school. I work with a teacher who is honestly the best at what she does. I'm learning a lot, working in a great environment, and while I deal with a lot of body fluids and personal illness (I've had one healthy week out of four--ughh!) I enjoy my new job. Being a working mom is a bit of an adjustment, but I get to eat lunch with Lauren and see her smiling face throughout the day.... She gets me through.

I love people in Minnesota and their Minnesota Nice. But I've learned something about Ohio this past year. People in Ohio are very welcoming and happy to accept you as one of their own. I've been a part of a stamp group, comprised mostly of ladies on base. I'm also rejoining my old Bunco group from Hanscom AFB that has now relocated here to Wright-Patt AFB. But there is one thing Minnesota has that I can't get here in Ohio.... the lower temps I long for! It is unreasonable to be enduring 90+ degree temps at the end of September, yet here we are. Not only do I miss home, I miss my hooded sweatshirts. But those of you lucky enough to be livin' in the North Star State probably don't, because you're cooler than me. Hahahaha. I had to throw that in there, that song has been stuck in my head all summer.

So much for keeping this short & sweet. I hope this update finds you all doing well.

stay cool.
*brookie

We're Back in Ohio Again

It is with mixed emotions I proclaim that we're back in Ohio again. It is always great to be home, where the air is cold and the family is abundant. There is snow, there is hockey, and the company fills our hearts and souls.

But getting there was no easy task. We hit the road before sunrise the day before Christmas Eve. The rain didn't slow us down, and carried us through Indiana, Illinois and into Iowa. But the rain began to freeze and the roads thickened with precipitation. White knuckles on the steering wheel, we crawled through Iowa, finally crossing into our beloved Minnesota. We made it home safely, but not without incident. Less than a half a mile from Mom & Dad's our low-rider got stuck in the snow drift that engulfed our gravel road. In one of those You-Know-You're-In-Minnesota-When moments, truck after truck of passersby stopped to assist in our bail out. Before long Dad had made his way to the barricade, and after a pull, some shoveling, and a few passes with the truck, we were home free, literally!

It wasn't until Monday afternoon on my way to my uncle's shop to pick up my cousin for a date that I realized my friendly tow had bent up the arm under the car. Ughhh. Long story short, the car spent much of the week in the shop, where it received a toasty home, a new part and an alignment, and eventually it was off and running.

By the time of departure we thought we'd had it all figured out. The car was gassed, loaded; all it needed was to be warmed up. However, at twenty-three below zero, it's easier said than done; the car turned over, but wouldn't catch. So just as the trip began, it ended with my dad saving the day.... a few moving blankets to warm up the hood, and a space heater underneath was all it took to get the car popped off, and off we were: back to Ohio again.

The turmoil with my car turns out to be a fairly accurate metaphor for the trip. There was frustration, agony, a lot of snow and cold weather, but it also brought out the good in people. And at the end of the trip I can look back and say, I'm thankful for the journey.

One of the bright spots of our Christmas Vacation.... Abby finally got to make a real snowman!

Two Long

I know it's been too long since I've written an update when Geoff has changed jobs twice and we have welcomed two babies into our extended family. Yes, I said two jobs.... more on those babies in a bit.

At the start of spring, Geoff left his job as a contractor at MCR (the job we moved to Dayton for) and rejoined The Circle of Trust as a gov't employee, known in the gov't world as a GS-13. He was excited at the places his spreadsheets could take him, since the KC-X program he had been working on was tied up in a legalities. With a new boss and a new cast of characters at work, Geoff was looking forward to a new challenge, but it was short-lived. Within the last few weeks, Geoff was more less hand-selected to take a job where he will be working directly for a general, amazing the high-ranking officer with his spreadsheeting wizardry. It's a fantastic opportunity for Geoff; within six months he was promoted to a GS-14. Now he will have his own office and be supervising other analysts. He has also been told his job will require him to give briefings at the Pentagon. Geoff is in Excel heaven. Of course the job will be more demanding and require longer hours. The biggest immediate impact this job will have on our family is that I will have to give up my job.

Yes, I too, have been employed; for a month and a half. I had been talking about it for some time, but finally made the decision this summer that I was going to actively seek a tutoring job. Nothing too intense, but something to get me out of the house and back into the field of education. Much to my surprise I was offered a job almost right away at the tutoring center just down the road. It was a perfect fit! About 15 hours a week, tutoring great kids, working with a girl I really enjoy. And it was good for my family, too. Geoff took on a stronger care-taker roll around the house, which in turn created a whole new dimension between him and the girls. While the girls were always a little sad when I left and always psyched to see me when I got home, they were really into their Daddy Time. Though my time as a tutor was short-lived, it gave me two valuable gifts: a chance to be a part of the professional world again, and even more importantly, it gave me great insight on what I can and should be working on at home with the girls to help them succeed in school. Of course I wouldn't be completely honest if I didn't say that planning for and preparing three less meals a week wasn't a nice break, too.

It has been a very busy last eight months around here. At the end of March we took a road trip to Illinois where we stayed with our friends, Clint & Michelle, and met up with fellow O'Town natives to watch Owatonna's junior A hockey team. A short, but enjoyable little family trip to the Land of Lincoln. Our spring trip to Minnesota came a little sooner than expected with the passing of Geoff's Grandpa Beardsley. We packed up the car and ventured to Duluth where had a great time with family and celebrated his grandfather's life; no doubt he was smiling down as we really enjoyed ourselves and our time together. From there Geoff flew back to join The Circle of Trust, and the girls and I went to join our circle of family & friends, where we spent a busy two months going to the cabin for spring cleaning, then back to Owatonna for my nephew Max's birth, making weekly trips to Rochester for my grandpa's radiation treatment at Mayo, and we even managed to sneak in a trip to the Minnesota Zoo, a few hockey games, a concert, a prom, and a high school graduation.

Had it not been for our impending family vacation, I probably would not have left home. But we had our first ever real family vacation on the horizon. And at the end of June we traveled to Washington to visit our family there. I am not exaggerating when I say we had the time of our lives! Geoff golfed nearly every morning at courses in the valley, and in the mountains. We took road trips to various places near Wenatchee where we were staying, we ate fresh cherries right off the tree, but most of all we just enjoyed the company of family. The trip would have been perfect, had it not been for the isolated evening the girls devised a plot to turn their grandparents' house into a canvas of chaos. You can read the full depiction, photographs and all, on my blog under the title Night of the Naughties in the July folder. It's worth the read!

Our eldest naughty started preschool this fall, and both of the girls are now actively pursuing gymnastics. Abby loves to learn, and jumps at the chance to write her letters and practice cutting and gluing. Both girls have turned our house into their personal gymnasium. Anything they can flip off of, they do. And if they could spend all day in their leotards, they'd do that, too.

Right now we're just living the Ohio life. The fields are starting to brown, there are pumpkin patches around every corner, and big red Os everywhere we turn. But are we still rooting for our Minnesota teams? You Betcha!

Oh, and as for that second baby... my cousin Luke and his wife, Molly, welcomed a baby girl into the world on Saturday, Oct. 10th. We're looking forward to seeing Mya Ann Hartle at Christmas. Congrats to Luke & Molly, and to my Aunt Vicky & Uncle LeRoy who are now beaming grandparents!

happy autumn.
*brookie

Sick of It

In New England instead of something being 'really far', it would naturally be referred to as 'wicked fahh'. It's part of the language we learned to adapt to when we lived in Boston. In Ohio, the terminology isn't so much regional as much as it is a distortion of definition. With the recent snowfall and cold snap, I've acquainted myself with some of their usage through the local news: 1 inch of snow=Atrocious, 3 inches=Treacherous, and below zero temperatures=Bone-Biting. Their definitions=Abysmal! I'm not saying a negative reading on the thermometer isn't cold, but seven below is not bone-biting unless you're in the elements without proper apparel. It has gotten cold here, darn cold. So cold in fact, that for the first time in years I had to arm myself with a scarf over my face when I went out to shovel the driveway. I forgot that when your mouth is warmed by the covering of your scarf, it throws your breath right up into your also covered nose; when you're doing this first thing it the morning it's definitely an appetite killer. Lesson no. 1 of '09: Next time I head out with my scarf I'll also be arming myself with a mint.

In 2008 I experimented with a change in occupation. I came close to earning my professional house painter's certificate, worked as an electrician, dabbled in plumbing, and did enough in the medical care profession that I believe I may be qualified to practice medicine in Third World countries. When we came down with Rotavirus a week before Thanksgiving, we had no way of knowing that it would stick with us until just before Christmas. Fortunately, we were well enough to travel back to Minnesota for the holidays, but of course all of that socializing bought us all down with colds. As if that wasn't enough, Abby lost it in the car on the way back to Ohio, and spent about half of the trip through Iowa, and almost all of the trip through Illinois puking. We made it back to Ohio, miraculously; it's one adventure I'd rather never repeat. But as luck would have it we weren't finished yet, and now we're struggling to overcome a respiratory flu. We've been sick with just about everything floating around the Midwest this Winter. Sick of it doesn't even begin to express my sediments. Lesson no. 2: Never travel without a puke bucket.

Thankfully, our girls are quite the little troopers. They trudge on with their fun and their lives of play and development. Abby turned four last week.... four going on fourteen. Her ability to express herself through language has grown by leaps and bounds. And like many fourteen year-olds, she now likes to spend time alone in her room. It's fairly innocent, playing with her Lizzie elephant and listening to music. But I must admit, it breaks my heart just a little to know my little girl is slipping away. She is quite proud that she has completed all of our prerequisites for starting preschool in the Fall. Most importantly, she is a full-time toilet user. Her only setback may be that she also needs to know how to follow the rules, a fine example of Abby the fourteen year-old.

Lauren too, is motivated to go to preschool and has joined the ranks of those in toilet training. There is a down-side to this. Our Tiny is so small that she needs her diaper just to hold up most of her pants. There is also the occasional clean-up scenario that all parents of potty trainers dread. This isn't my favorite stage, though I know it's a big one, and quite important. Besides the obvious payoff of no longer having to buy diapers, my favorite element to potty training is the cute little naked butt that flashes around the house. No judging. If you've potty trained a tot, you know just what I'm talking about.

Not much has changed with my Geoff. Another disappointing season with the Vikings. Same old, same old at the Air Force Base, at least for now. At this point I think he'd give just about anything to be back on his feet and taking his little ladies out on their Daddy Dates. But for now, that will have to wait. For now, the girls, with all that they were showered with at Christmas, are still playing with their cars. How two little girls can be so entertained by organizing Match Box cars into rows and grids is beyond me. But they like it, and they must be learning something....

I hope each of you had a great Christmas, and are off to a happy, healthy, and warm-as-possible start to 2009!

Bringing in '09 with a B#r!‏

Was three weeks of vomiting and diarrhea (a word I struggle to spell and hoped not to have to ever type again) this holiday season not enough to fill our quota well into the new millennium? At least into 2012? Apparently not.

We arrived in Minnesota on December 18th four healthy people and one scar-free dog. We made a successful surprise, as we showed up unbeknownst to Mom (and Dad) at Mom's 25th Anniversary at Jostens. So a few snow storms kept us from seeing Santa and shopping in the Cities. That had to be the worst that could happen. It wasn't. Whatever Lizzie did to aggravate Mom & Dad's dog, Raven, must have been severe because Raven left Lizzie with a chunk taken out of her head. Seriously, it was time to say goodbye to 2008! In addition, the four of us suffered almost the entire two weeks with sore throats, in my case I lost my voice, and chest and nasal congestion struck us all. But we're not done yet.

I was ready to give 2008 a kick in the ass on New Years Eve when I spilled three, yes three beverages at the hockey game that night. I'll save you the details of the rest of our time in Minnesota, but it was nice and fairly low-key. With threats of storms Thursday and Saturday, we decided Friday was our day to depart the Land of 10,000 Lakes and return to Ohio. The trip was fine until we arrived in Cedar Rapids and that's when it happened: Abby puked. All over! Family stomach viruses always tend to bring out the best, then the worst in Geoff and I. There is a sense of team work, then eventually a meltdown as Geoff could no longer listen to "Goodbye To You" play over and over again. But in the end, when both girls pass out, its a peaceful time to talk and spend "quality time" together. In this case our quality time was laced with the smells of barf and nasty dog farts coming from the back seat. Aside from mechanical failure or a head-on collision, it couldn't have been much worse. In fact, this was the worst ride of my life. This trip would certainly have made for great reality TV. Time after time we found ourselves in parking lots, me wiping Abby down, Geoff scrambling through the dirty clothes bag to find something suitable for her to suit up in. Yes, we had clean clothes, but of course those were sealed in a space bag at the very back of the trunk! And what one girl has the other must receive.... Lauren spent mile after mile insisting she, too, be suited up in dirty jammies. In the end the barfing was contained to the borders of Iowa and Illinois, and we made it home in 12 hours anyways (no stop for meals, just clean up & gas).

The girls and I found ourselves camped out on the family room floor last night and thus far have been without incident. Thus far. The girls are feasting on buttered noodles for the now, possibly the only food left in the house, and a great one for unsettled tummies. It is my first meal in over 24 hours. Lucky us.

So here's hoping you're off to a better start in 2009, and here's hoping ours gets & stays healty!

Always Check Your Armpits

It isn't often I get dressed up. In fact, any day I wear something other than a t-shirt I'm dressed up. It had to be a special day for me to pull out a sleeveless number and the pearls, but for my cousin's wedding, it was such the occasion. After sporting a sweater all day and through much of the evening, it was time to get down, and the sweater had to come off. I would say it was a good two hours without my sweater before I found myself alone in the bathroom and compelled to check my armpits. Thank God I did! That cute little black sweater had left some major European style build up right in my underarms. How many songs did I dance to with my arms flailing up in the air? Oh boy, who got up close and personal with those fuzzy ladies? How humiliating! No one owned up to spotting my 'fashion statement', but none-the-less, in future sleeveless situations I will strive to check my pits. Let's hope it isn't a lesson lost over the winter.

Ohio has done it again. In my youth I was a regular viewer of Family Ties, and I believe Alex P. Keaton would have taken issue with Ohio's long-standing tradition, Beggars' Night. I certainly would have remembered this from my Thursday night Must See TV, had it come to light. Could it be even Hollywood is unaware of Beggars' Night? Word on the street is that Beggars' Night is hundreds of years old, dating back to when beggars would literally roam from home to home begging for scraps of food. Today it has taken shape as Ohio's designated evening of trick-or-treating. Let me make this clear: your October water bill will be printed with a date the city has selected for its night of trick-or-treating; always a night other than Halloween. I have no idea why these people do this. Some claim it is so adults can party on Halloween and the streets will be safer for children. Our neighbors looked at us as if we had three nipples when we confessed we had never heard of it. We've been all over the country and no where does anyone else take such liberties with Halloween. Whatever the reason, and no matter how unfortunate I think this is, as long as we are in Ohio our children will be celebrating their night of begging on Beggars' Night. Leave it to a state that worships the Buckeye.

We were a bit caught off guard by our Halloween Eve's trick-or-treating, in part because of the crazy month we had preceding. The girls and I left Ohio in early October for a stay at home in Minnesota. It was not one of my favorite "vacations" perhaps because it was nothing close to a vacation. We did have a good time getting together for playdates, visiting with family, making an endless heap of apple pies, and topped off our stay with Luke & Molly's wedding--by far the highlight of the trip, despite the hairy armpit incident. Without even going to the Cities, it goes without saying, there was much we never got to do and many we didn't get to see. I did, however and unfortunately, take in a few hockey games in my few weeks in the Upper Midwest. I say unfortunately because I hate to give Iowa heat again, but on a road trip to North Iowa I found myself completely violated in an experience I hope to never again endure. While watching the new Owatonna Express Jr. A hockey team take it on the road, we subjected ourselves to a shed on the fairgrounds in Mason City for the hockey adventure of my life. Sadly, I remember little about the hockey. It was like sitting in a tin can with a group of uncivilized mountain dwellers (yes, there were people missing teeth, none of whom were on the ice). And while others had it worse, at least I didn't get a beer bottle thrown at me, I've honestly never seen anything like this in my life. I'll save you the head-splitting details, but let's just say it makes going to a Wild game seem like a trip to the symphony. I'm sticking with the symphony.

As if our trip home wasn't crazy enough, we arrived back in Ohio the day before Abby & Lauren were blessed with a visit from their grandparents from Washington. It was a lot to deal with at once, unpacking and preparing for company after not having been home for nearly a month, but we truly enjoyed their visit. Geoff & Dan were able to get out and golf every day they were here, and the girls ate up their special time with their grandma. They played, painted, shopped, went trick-or-treating, and played some more. It took some time for Abby & Lauren to come down off of their "family high", but they seem to be doing just fine and are back into their day-to-day routine of playing, fighting and watching Nemo.

In many ways we were delighted to see election day arrive. While we weren't pleased with the outcomes in all the races, I really enjoyed using all of the political speak to teach Abby & Lauren about politics. It got to be quite entertaining watching the girls duel it out over who should to be president. I'm sure they truly could care less about who won the election, my biggest concern is that they understand John McCain & President-Elect Obama are not a two-for-the-price-of-one the same way Abby & Lauren are.