Busy Week, Bad Timing?

I wanted a February baby. I don't know why, I just did (maybe because I thought 02/03/04 would be a cool birthday). Of course, my eldest son had other plans. Six years ago in January, I went into labor. It didn't go anything like I planned, and the D-man was born as January baby. Ten days early and definitely an exciting end to our January.

 

D-MAN

During this week last year, Dad's stroke occurred, and this year, I was let go from Sun. As my co-worker pointed out, my Dad's stroke had an amazing outcome. And of course, my son is such a positive addition to our lives. Although being laid off doesn't feel great right now, I can only think that the layoff that happened at the end of January 2010 will also have a great outcome. Not that you can ever plan the timing on these things, but man, both my maternity leaves were during the winter months and now, my time off will be during the winter as well.... Maybe I'll need to fly south for the winter........

But, for now, I'll celebrate my son's birthday and hope for good weather in Denver.

Random Thursday Thoughts

Yesterday, I started jotting down some completely random thoughts. 

• D-man telling T-man, "I have to do my homework, that's how I roll."
• D-man reading books in his room and listening to his static-y radio he got from Santa
• T-man pooping on the potty (I'm so over changing poopy underwear)
• D-man choosing "5 Guys" for take out and Tanner choosing "Sonic "for cherries for dessert
• T-man  dunking his own head underwater at swimming lessons and then crying
• Wondering how a busy mom lives without a crock pot and rice cooker? 
• Thinking chocolate from Belgium that my brother-in-law brings us is a small slice of heaven
• Being young enough to be excited about setting an alarm clock
• Wonders if anyone else that worked from home, cooked their lunch in the microwave and tried to empty the dishwasher before the microwave is done?  

This list may be completely random, but given the news about my termination today, it made me stop and think. Nothing on my random list was about work. Don't get me wrong. I really, really liked my job. I really loved the people I worked with and what we were doing. But when it comes down to it, I will find another job. Another company will be lucky to have me and I look forward to finding the right match and starting a new adventure.

And for now, I'm pretty sure my boys (all 3 of them) will keep me entertained.

Cuz that's how I roll.

A Year Ago Today

Today is a day of reflection for me. A year ago today, my Dad suffered a major stroke. It's really hard to believe it has been a year and how things are so "normal" now. It was hardly normal a year ago when I got the call from my sister at 4 am, booked a flight for that morning to Omaha, and left my family here in Denver to be with my family in Sioux City.



In the hospital last year.



Hanging out in the ICU waiting room.

Fortunately, the entire ordeal had a happy ending and it really reinforced how wonderful my family truly is - both Karlen and Peavy. My mom and my sisters banding together with incredible strength to make sure my Dad was getting the best care. My Dad for fighting the incredible fight to get to where he is today. My husband and brother-in-laws for taking care of the home front during the entire ordeal - kids, dogs, jobs, school. My mother-in-law for coming to help with the kids during my absence. And aunts, cousins, and family friends supporting us along the way.



Christmas 2009

I always knew I was extremely lucky to have such a strong, loving, and amazing family and this experience made me even more thankful.

I called my mom this morning to "check in" on the two of them and she had been thinking about the significance of this day as well. Of course, when I talked to Dad, he hadn't a clue why I was calling. It's good to know things are back to normal. Normal never felt so good.

I Love a Marade

D-man and I participated in the 25th annual MLK Marade on Monday with around 30,000 people thanks to an invite from his teacher. We marched with some other folks from Highline Academy on a beautiful winter day. The March/Parade was from City Park to the Capitol Building. Some of the highlights of the march for Drake: the ability to walk in the middle of the street, all the cop cars blocking traffic, seeing people sitting on their balconies watching the marade. You know - really important stuff....:)

After the marade, we took the free shuttle bus from the capitol to LoDo for lunch with Marshall. That was a perfect way to wrap up our time downtown.

Basketball Season is Here

For several weeks now, D-man has been going to basketball practice at the local rec center. After the first of the year, we now have games on Saturday mornings. He is very excited about "real games" and after the first game, I was required to keep score (D-man's team won 32 to 14). D-man informed us that he had the best player on his team, and if my son is one thing, he is observant. And fortunately, D-man has made a basket in each of the first two games.

The Power of a Whisper

Yesterday, I officially lost my voice. I have to say this is a first. Of course, the timing is never great - Marshall left last night for a long weekend skiing with his family and I'm headed to Miami next week (I'm hopeful it will be back before then).

Given that I have no voice, I have resorted to whispering (which incidently, I just discovered on WebMD can actually irritate it more). Apparently, I am supposed to "talk softly". We'll see how that goes.

Due to my affliction, I discovered last night that the boys have to be much more alert when I am talking so softly. There's no yelling from me upstairs to the boys downstairs that it is time to get ready for bed. I can't answer to kids yelling at me "to come see" from throughout the house. When I talk with my 3 year old, he immediately answers back in a whisper. When I felt myself getting frustrated last night, I couldn't even try to raise my voice which resulted in me actually calming down.

The boys' Montessori teacher has always said that they speak much more softly to the children in the classroom (and that when parents come barging into drop off their children talking in their "normal" voices, it completely disrupts the classroom). I'm now truly seeing the power of whispering both in my children and myself. Maybe this losing my voice isn't so bad.........

The Lost Art of the Handwritten Letter

I just spent the last hour and a half looking through a box of old cards and letters. None of the cards or letters had anything to terribly exciting in them, but it was a great reminder of the power of a written letter. There were birthday cards, Halloween cards, graduation cards, birth announcement, thank you cards, but mostly letters. I have always loved getting "real" mail and at one point, was very good at writing letters to people.

It was funny that several of the letters started with "thanks so much for your letter." So, I'm not sure these people really wanted to write me or if they just felt compelled to write back. In any case, I'm thankful for the many pen pals I had during grad school, and thankful that my sorting project (and my "packrattedness") has brought a smile to my face.

I've kept several of the cards, letters, etc. that the boys have received from their grandparents for this very reason. I hope they can someday find joy in reading the letters they received and bring up good memories from the past.

I found a Christmas card from my Nana, typed letters (ok, not all were hand written) from my Dad encouraging me through grad school, my birth announcement my aunt sent from a local paper, a note from my adviser with comments on my final senior paper, and several letters from friends with basic updates on their lives at the time. There's hardly a need for someone to write me a letter these days - I can find out what's going on instantly by reading their blog or Facebook page or sending off a quick email. And while I obviously love Facebook, nothing compares to having someone take the time to write you a note or send a card.

The one other thing that pleased me was that I'm still in touch with almost every person who sent me a letter. I've obviously grown apart from some of them and maybe this is the year I reestablish a better connection with these folks. I can hardly believe that I will be sitting here 13 to 14 years from now having such nostalgic feelings by reading my old emails. I guess I will cherish the annual deluge of holiday cards as that is about as close as I get to "real" letters these days (besides the letters we get from my mother-in-law - she is a truly gifted letter writer).

Pender Christmas 2009 aka Snow, Vomit, and Dr. Mario

After a 2 day delay, we made it to Nebraska for the Karlen Christmas. It was a bit longer drive due to the road conditions, but we made it in time to open gifts and spend time with the entire family. It was a great "4 hour Christmas". The kids all got along and I am so thankful for Marshall driving us all the way to Nebraska on Sunday (there were quite the drifts around Pender) only to turn around and fly out on Monday. It was so special to all be together this Christmas.



Unfortunately, after our wonderful Karlen family Christmas, the flu bug ripped through the entire family. Even though the flu put a damper on our trip, the boys and I enjoyed hanging out at Nana and Pop's for a few days. Lots of football and movie watching, napping, playing with cousins, and just enjoying our down time. We didn't venture out too much - the snow and cold were not terribly appealing. At night, Mom, Dad, and I enjoyed playing "Dr. Mario" on the old school Nintendo game. We brought the Wii and our new games, but didn't even get it out - Dr. Mario was too addictive (and Drake enjoyed Super Mario).



Our trip home was delayed a day due to me feeling under the weather and I spent New Year's with Mom and Dad for the 2nd year in a row - could this become a tradition? The drive home on the 1st was made especially long by Tanner's belly woes, but we made it.

Santa is So Nice

It is hard to believe that Christmas 2009 is over. There are so many things that you want to bottle up and remember forever. We had such a wonderful Christmas - even though it didn't go as planned. We were so lucky to be "stuck" here together in Denver and not in an airport, random hotel, or rest stop.

The boys and I enjoyed a day at home after some snow on the 24th. We wrapped present, made treats, played Christmas music, ran to the grocer store (crazy there!) and I made fish chowder for Christmas Eve dinner. Marshall got home around 4:00 and we had a great family night. Of course, it was a late night for Mr. and Mrs. Claus wrapping gifts, running to Walgreens for more wrapping paper, etc. But, always a special night preparing for Christmas morning.


Christmas Eve



Santa came!

Christmas morning was filled with all the magic one would hope for. The opening of the stockings (which Marshall made sure were filled with all sorts of goodies), special breakfast rolls (thanks Pillsbury), and a leisurely time opening our gifts from Santa and each other. One of my favorite gifts was a Christmas card that Drake got me. He wrote "I love you very much and Merry Christmas" on it. And Drake really enjoyed handing out all the gifts he got for us.

One thing that stood out in my mind is that Drake kept saying "Santa is so nice". I thought it was so sweet that he was thinking about how nice Santa is to be giving all these gifts. He wasn't thinking what a good boy he had been to deserve these or that any of these gifts were expected, but that Santa was so nice to think of gifts that were meant just for him.

Tanner enjoyed opening his gifts and playing with them right then. He wasn't concerned about more gifts under the tree - he was content with the present he had just opened. A joy to watch.

Thanks to snow on the plains, the boys got to enjoy their new gifts all day Saturday and Sunday. If only every day were Christmas day and new presents were around all the time......

Marshall is still putting together their "big gift" - but the boys are enjoying the pieces that have been put together. The game surface is small, but will be perfect for the two of them for a few years.