So much to do, so little time!

Today it will be almost 90 degrees, I have to put together some meals for our vacation next week, we are hosting a gaggle of little girls for Alanya's 7th birthday celebration, and... oh yeah... it's our anniversary! How come after 14 years the most important sometimes gets pushed to the last thing on the list?

We'll be going out to celebrate tonight, but until then I have a huge list to tackle. Looking forward to 4:30 when Jason said he will be sneaking out of work. I wish I had time to write an ode to my husband, or perhaps a sonnet, but I have to get on with my day! So instead, here is a link to the first post I ever did on this blog. Happy anniversary Jason. I look forward to the next fourteen years. I absolutely do.

Happy 40th Birthday!

It was a beautiful May day when this gorgeous guy was born 40 years ago.

The hair got even longer, and he got even cuter if that was possible.

Then the unthinkable happened... he became a teenager in the 80's!

Luckily it's not the size of the hair, or the number of years that matters, it's the Happy.

I love you!

The wedding guest

When I was six years old my family moved from Massachusetts to Texas. As I look back now as an adult I realize how huge this was because my parents had never lived more than a 20-30 minute drive from my grandparents. Every time we'd say goodbye after a visit the tears would flow. All we had were letters and phone calls, but back then "long distance" was expensive. There was nothing called unlimited minutes, or "friends and family". Later when I was studying overseas it was a similar story. Email was non-existent and every other Sunday my parents would call me at 7pm my time. If I missed the call, forget it, I'd have to wait another two weeks. We have come a long way in the last seventeen years, but I didn't realize exactly how far until our most recent trip to Seattle.

Last weekend every member of Jason's family found themselves in Seattle for his cousin's wedding. Everyone that is except for one very important person... Grandma. At 89 she is the matriarch and inspiration for all of us. Active in her community even today, she didn't begin to slow down until a few years ago when she survived a stroke. So she doesn't ride her bike or go hiking anymore, but she still enjoys each day. The day after the election Jason spoke to her and she told him some people had encouraged her to use an absentee ballot so she wouldn't have to battle potential crowds. Are you kidding? Grandma insisted on going to the polls. It was an exciting day and she wanted to experience it. A trip across town to vote is one thing, but a cross-country flight from New Jersey to Seattle would be too much. Grandma wouldn't be at the wedding.

Jason's aunt had other plans though. Before she left for Seattle she set up her laptop in Grandma's living room. Then the night of the wedding she and her daughter set up a second computer in the ballroom. With the assistance of a family friend that helps care for Grandma, a Skype call was successfully placed, and there she was. Grandma was at the wedding! As each guest arrived, they went over to the computer and said hello to Grandma. She was like an actual guest, except sitting on a table and resembling a MacBook. Shortly before the ceremony started the rabbi came up to us and asked about the laptop, and for a brief moment I was afraid he would tell us it wasn't appropriate for a religious ceremony. Instead he wanted to suggest that we move it to the front row so that Grandma could get a better view!

The wedding began, and as the bride and her parents walked down the aisle a cousin held the laptop up for Grandma to see. The bride smiled into the computer and waved, and when Grandma beamed and waved back the tears started flowing all around. Jason's aunt had done it. Grandma was at the wedding. No wedding is complete without a family portrait, so here it is.

If you look really close, you can see Jason on the laptop screen taking the picture. What a wonderful thing technology can be when it really can make a difference. Who needs "long distance" when you can actually be there??

Keeping him on his toes.

What do you do when you are driving through an obscure plaza parking lot and you see your husband's car parked in front of a restaurant nowhere near his office? First you pull over and look in the car to make sure you aren't dreaming. Then you do what I did. Park. Put on lipstick. Fix your hair. And you go in to see who the heck your husband is having lunch with.

Don't act all shocked. You would do the same thing. Granted, after my initial horror I remembered Jason said he was going to go out to lunch with a fellow co-worker visiting from Texas. And it was one of his favorite restaurants, so I shouldn't have been all that surprised. But still. What was the name of the other person??? Chris??? Was that Christopher or Christine?? So I did what any woman would do. I went in to find out.

I spied them in a quiet, secluded booth in the corner. I walked up to the table and Jason's guest looked at me with a "who is this crazy woman?" face. I smiled and said "Hi, I'm Jason's wife." You should have seen the look on Jason's face. Priceless. It's not like we live in a tiny town, just a very very odd coincidence that I was at the same place at the same time. We had a good laugh, and once Jason recovered he slid over for me to join them. I didn't stay long, but just chatted with them for a few minutes. Turns out the other guy grew up in the same town I did when I was little and went to school with my older brothers and sisters. Small world.

Small world indeed. Better watch your back! Wifey is watching!

Proof in the pics... cont.

Are they standing on a whale out there? Walking on water? This was a huge sand bar that they waded out to, and I remained on the shore as photographer. The water was a little chilly for me and I was afraid of dropping the camera.

No trip to Florida is complete without a visit to see the Boys of Summer! Here we are at the Red Sox spring training opener against the Minnesota Twins. They sure do pack them in at Twins Stadium and I was jammed up against two very large farmers from Minnesota. Minnesotans sure do love their kettle corn.

The Sox lost, but that didn't stop Noah from trying to get a 9th inning rally going much to the delight of the remaining Twins and Sox fans around us!

Proof in the pics... cont.

Jason and I actually did have our belated Valentine's Day celebration with the sunset. We had a picnic and watched the sun go down. And then got silly and took some pictures of ourselves. Jason nearly pulled a muscle taking this one!

Here is a classic Brady Bunch pose on the beach. Remember the episode when they sang on the talent show? The kids did pretty well considering they had no idea what I was talking about!

You must go shell searching while in Florida! Here Jason and Ben match up their findings to the laminated shell "map" Nana has. You mean shells actually have names?

The proof is in the pictures

Just in case anyone needed more proof that the drive, planning and effort were worth it, here's a sampling of what we did on our vacation.

The main attraction, otherwise known as Nana and Pepere. Our big outing where bathing suits were not an option... Sunday brunch. After a few quick reminders on "buffet etiquette" Noah hit the Belgian waffle chef, Alanya was a perfect lady using her manners, and Ben actually stopped darting around and sat still for once to enjoy his breakfast.

Here's the gang coming down the Lazy River! It was a little cool, but we all had a ball at the water park.

The big event here was Ben got up the courage to head up the tower and try the big slides. Once he actually did it, we could barely get him to leave. Noah finally had a buddy to ride the slides with! Alanya preferred the river and the splash area. Next year we'll get her up there.

Jason must have snapped this when I wasn't looking. My little baby is getting so big!

The woman across the aisle

Our church is rather large as far as churches go around here, and I always sit in the same place. It seems like everyone has their comfort zone and it is always the same faces week after week. If someone sees me out of context, they think “9 o’clock, three kids, far left, up front”. (There is a whole other post here, but more on that later.) They may not know my name, or the kids’ names, but they feel like they know me, and vice versa.

Across the aisle to my right there is often a woman who attends Mass by herself. She is about my age, but what makes her stand out is that she is always impeccably dressed. Many of her outfits are worthy of a formal wedding in my book. She’s always in heels that are perfectly matched to the dress. Nails are manicured, and often coordinated with the outfit. Her purse and jewelry are always perfectly chosen and her hair and makeup look like she just left a salon. Do you know there are people who change their purse or nail polish daily depending on what they are wearing? Amazing.

I have spoken to this woman twice that I can remember. Once in the bathroom when I complimented her on her dress, and recently she came over and commented on how Alanya and I looked alike. Other than that, I don’t know this woman, just the occasional half smile when you catch someone’s gaze during church, or coming in or out. I’ve often wondered what her story is. What does she do for a living? Does she dress like that every day? She’s always alone, is she single? Or maybe she’s like me and simply married to someone who doesn’t go to church.

On Christmas Eve, Noah sang in the choir, Jason joined us, as well as my sister and her family. I remember feeling warm and happy and blessed that I could be there with so many people I loved. And I remember looking over and seeing this woman, all alone, in the front row. All alone. Even on Christmas Eve when nearly every seat in the church is filled, she still sat alone in her pew. I remember thinking how sad it was. Did she have no one to be with on Christmas? I mentioned it to my mom later and she agreed, how sad. We wondered what her story is. I last saw her around New Years and she was wearing a champagne and gold metallic dress with a matching jacket.

This week her obituary was in the paper. She died a few weeks ago “suddenly at home”. She was a year older than me. She was single with no children. She worked at a bank. She had two sisters that live far away. Even if they hadn’t run her picture, I would have known it was her because it mentioned our church and talked about her love for fashion, shopping and style. She was somebody. I knew her, but not really. We passed each other every week. We prayed a few feet from each other every week. And she’s not here anymore.

I don’t know what happened to her. She was healthy and the newspaper hasn’t had any odd stories about accidental deaths. All I can think about was that she really was as lonely and sad as I thought she was on Christmas Eve. It makes me wish I had said something to her other than “what a lovely dress.” I hope she has found peace.

"Heart" Healthy Saturday

I woke up this morning and there was a Valentine on my nightstand from Noah. He also worked on a Valentine gift for me… cleaning out his closet. He took countless trips up and down the stairs getting rid of papers and trash. This truly was a gift because I get a rash every time I have to open his closet! Alanya also got in on the action and cleaned her room for me. She makes a bed better than anyone in this house! Ben on the other hand marches to his own drummer, and his room is still a mess. I love his independence. No one is going to pressure him into anything he doesn't want to do.

I got a heartfelt poetic reflection from my husband. He’s a romantic, but can’t stand this holiday. About two weeks ago he sent me an email from work that was worthy of a greeting card. I suggested he save it and print it out again for Valentine’s Day. Instead of going out or buying each other gifts, we decided we would find a few hours in Florida when we can leave the kids with my parents and go have a picnic on the beach, just the two of us. That sounds way better than some grocery store flowers or drugstore candy to me.