A Revelation

We know we're moving.

It's not until next summer, but the thought always lurks in the back of my head.... "you're moving... are you ready?.... where will you live?  what will you do?  when will it happen?  are you purging the house yet? do you really need to buy that?  you'll just have to pack it....."

As you can see, I have a very ACTIVE inner monologue.  This is the reason I look tired all the time.

I've worked since I was 14.  My longest stretch without a job was late 2009-early 2012, after I was laid off (a dark time).  I've been working part-time for going on 2 1/2 years, and while the job is.... a job, I can't complain about the workload, the pay, or the hours.  I like working.  I like the interaction with other adults, and frankly, I like the satisfaction of earning a paycheck & contributing to the family (or to my handbag collection).  When The Move was decided, I started thinking about where I would work and when I would start to look for that work.  Matt and I talked about it.  He encouraged me to think about what I wanted to do & where I should do it.  There is a Prestigious University in this new town of ours, and I like the idea of being able to say "Oh yes, I work at _____." But then I started looking at jobs and working hours, and thinking.

Right now it's Fall.  School has only been in session for 9 weeks or so, but every day when I finish work at 1pm, I feel like it's a sprint to bedtime.  Errands, exercise, soccer practice, music lessons, church activities, meetings, school pickup, doctor appointments, cleaning, laundry, dinner prep, lunch prep, grocery shopping.  You know the drill.  Most of my days end with me mentally tallying up what didn't get done, and feeling bad about it all.  I know things will quiet down a bit once soccer ends, but it starts again just a few months later.  

I found a full-time job at The Prestigious University that I think would be perfect for me.  I know we're a long way out, but I like to plan & plot & process as much as I can, and this job had me doing all those things.  And then A Revelation came.

At the end of one of those long-sprint days, I suddenly thought "Why would I do that to myself?".  If I only work 20 hours a week right now and I feel like I'm barely keeping it together, what makes me think that working 40 hours a week is do-able?  Much less a GOOD idea?  Do not mistake what I'm saying.  I know there are millions of two-income households who do this every day, and are just fine.  They've got it dialed in (or at least they look like they do), and I envy them.  But for me and  MY household, I just couldn't stop thinking: Why?  Why add to the stress?  Why add to the guilt?  Why add to the last minute pizza runs that still happen too often for my liking?

I am incredibly fortunate that I have the option to think these thoughts, much less make a decision.  And then I read an article online that gave me great comfort about opting out of working.  The perspective was that having someone at home running the household is a gift to the family.  It's a gift that one of us doesn't have to spend precious weekend time slogging through the grocery store.  It's a gift that we can sit down to dinner at 5pm each day.  It's a gift that someone doesn't have to take off an entire work day to wait for the cable installer to show up.  It's a gift that the end of the work week doesn't mean facing 14 loads of laundry or squeezing in extra time working on a PowerPoint sales pitch while the kids are at track practice.  Staying home can be the contribution that I need and want to make for my family.    

And suddenly I felt better.  I felt like the choice - which was never really even a choice - was made.    

And I'm grateful.

Disney World 2013

We had an amazing time in Florida.  November is definitely the time to visit both Orlando and Disney World.  This was our 2nd trip to The Happiest Place on Earth, and we applied a few things learned from trip #1 in 2012.  

First lesson: Don't go in March.  Check those crowd forecasts, and believe them.  We visited from the 10th-16th, and although Sunday & Monday were busy (the end of the Epcot Food & Wine Festival + Epcot Marathon + Veteran's Day), the remainder of the week was GREAT.    

We managed to get both kids into the Jedi Training at Hollywood Studios on Monday, and It. Was. AWESOME.  

Every Padawan's dream: Fighting Darth Vader

We did breakfast at the Tusker House again, and it was as good as we remembered.  

We also took a trip to the Wilderness Lodge (amazing!), and had dinner at the Whispering Canyon Cafe.  I didn't realize I had nabbed the first reservation of the dinner hour, but I did, and the kids were given the honor of ringing the dinner bell & yelling "Come and Get It!" to open the restaurant. 

We were also treated to a VIP table with special decorations.  

And the kids loved the milkshakes & the wooden horse races!

After dinner we wandered down to the dock & caught a ferry back to Magic Kingdom.  It was so cool to see the other resorts lit up & to approach the Magic Kingdom by lake.  

J got another Pirate Makeover, and opted for the Ghost Pirate look.  

And was chosen to go up on stage with Captain Jack Sparrow himself!  

A quick tutorial on the finer points of sword fighting. 

My princess and the castle. 

Hey look, we were there too!

Face painting.....

After the Princess Makeover.....

Mickey!

Minnie!

At Epcot we treated M, her cousin, and Grandma to "Pick-a-Pearl" at the Mitsuhoki store in "Japan".  Each oyster is guaranteed to hold a pearl, and the girls were lucky enough to all choose oysters that had larger than normal pearls.  

The parks were all partially decorated for Christmas, and were so pretty.  

We had lunch at the Akershus Royal Banquet Hall in Epcot, and it was SO GREAT.

We met 5 princesses in all, got autographs & photos, and had a delicious lunch.  

HIGHLY recommend. 

A trip to DW wouldn't be complete without a ride on the Monorail!

I'll do another post with a few of the tips we learned from our trips, and a couple of additional details.  The bottom line is that we had a wonderful vacation and feel so lucky that we were able to be at Disney World with family, and enjoy such great travels!  

November? December?

As much as I love this blog, it was sort of nice to take a break in November.  The month just flew by, and I am amazed/ panicked that it is already December.  The days are long, but the months are short, and that is the sad truth.

For Thanksgiving we took a rather "last minute" trip to Arizona.  It was last minute in that we weren't planning for months to do this, but the opportunity arose, we grabbed it and overall had a really great trip.

We started off with a Thanksgiving feast at preschool.  Each child signed up for what they wanted to bring to the feast.  Our contribution was originally supposed to be "chicken and smoothies" (what?) but we changed it to "pumpkin bread".  Other contributions included rice, cereal, pancakes, strawberries, crackers, and Italian ice. It was quite a feast!

We flew out Thanksgiving morning.  There was a little hiccup with delayed flights, but Delta rerouted us, and we arrived only an hour after our original anticipated time.  Great customer service, Delta - thank you!

We stayed with my Dad, and had lots of great time visiting and getting to know his wife, and Duke and Daisy (their Chihuahuas).

We also took some family photos (yes, I might actually send out Christmas cards this year - BEFORE Christmas!).  

Did a little shooting.....

Ate some delicious Mexican food from Casa Ramos in Mesa.....

Tried fishing with cousins....

Played 'submarine' with a bin, blanket, pillow on top & a galley well-stocked with homemade pretzels.....  

 Met our new nephew....

And visited a cool Aquarium.

We also visited with friends, decorated Grandma's Christmas tree, did some shopping, and enjoyed the sunshine and 80 degree temperatures.  It wasn't enough to make me want to move back to Arizona, but it was great while it lasted.

Summer, Where Did You Go?

Maybe a better title is "August, Where Did You Go?"  I cannot believe that it is September. And that Autumn will be here in 3 short weeks.  I am more than ready for some cooler weather and snuggly sweaters, aren't you?

Because it has been weeks since I blogged, here is recap of August:

Husband left to work an hour and a half away, for the entire month.  He only had one day off each week, and the first week he actually had my birthday off!  Hooray!  And then he had to trade it for a Saturday off so he could do a team-building activity with the other Residents.  Boo!  But my birthday was still nice - very low key, and I spent some quality time with 2 of my 3 favorite people.

Birthday Roses

Birthday Girl

This is just a silly picture of J, who fell asleep in Panera immediately after finishing his dinner. 

He's only ever done that once before.  

New favorite food: Bolthouse Farms Yogurt Ranch Dressing.  

2Tbs = 45 calories of yumminess.

Find it in the refrigerated salad section of your local Walmart. 

My Mom came to visit for 2 weeks, and I didn't get a single picture!   But the kids had loads of fun spending time with her, and doing crafts together.  We have many new masterpieces in the house.  

J was invited to a Superhero party for his buddy next door.  The party included a sweet backyard obstacle course, which the kids repeated 425 times.  

Check out those muscles!

At the end there was cake AND s'mores.  

Superheroes have to keep up their strength.

After fulfilling her part of our beginning of summer bargain (pass the swim test at the pool & you can get your ears pierced), we visited the mall and had the deed done.  

She was ready, but I think it still hurt a little more than she anticipated. 

And then my girl started 3rd grade!  We were all ready for that to happen. 

"Mom.... I'm getting tired of all the pictures...."

And finally, I found this gem on my phone this morning.  Looks like I need to be a little more careful where I leave it lying around.  

Are you sad to see summer go?  Are you ready for fall?  

Gratuitous Update

School Carnival Fun

kitty face

bouncy house

acrobat & strongman

Backyard Karaoke

 twinkle, twinkle little star (with big sis on back up)

End of Spring Soccer 2012 

Team Yellow!

Super Star!

And finally........

This little beauty is 1 of 2 syringes of fluid removed from my husband's knee. 

He says it feels 15 years younger! I was grossed out x15!