Summer keeps us busy

So I haven't posted in a while and the real reason is that summer keeps us so busy! I always think, man we will slow down once school is out, but truth is things never really slow down much. Even the last few weeks of school for the kids kept us crazy busy. Maybe I try to do too much??
So far this summer, I taught an online class which ended a couple weeks after the kids got out of school. Since that time I have been to girls camp, kept up on some of my research work, picked strawberries and raspberries, and planted a garden. On top of that, Yoda got fixed, H had soccer camp, C had swim lessons, and the kids each had 2-3 practices for soccer/gymnastics each week. J has also been traveling for soccer and to work on a remodel in NY. We also celebrated our 12th anniversary, H's 9th bday, and C's 6th bday all last month. Next week is gymnastics camp, jam making, a day at the office, and the kids participating in a PSU study. The week after that I have 2 training days for an upcoming conference, and we will spend a family day in Pittsburgh.
So please forgive me if I am having a hard time keeping up with it all. Someday my life will slow down, but by then I will probably be an old lady and no one will care what I am up to!

Grandpa

This isn't an easy post, but it needs to be made. April 19th, 2012 Grandpa Douglas left earth for his heavenly home. J was already in Arizona after receiving a call from his mom over the weekend that his dad's health had taken a turn for the worse. He was suffering from Fronto-temporal dementia. I flew out with the kids the next day to join J. We had a short visit returning after just 4 days. We had a nice time with family, and the kids had lots of fun with their cousins. We will miss Grandpa a lot! He was such a good man and a taught me to be more relaxed, patient, and practical. More posts to come of the events while we were there.

Where oh where has my Chewy gone??

Chewy's gone missing. He does this from time to time. Must be the wild in him.

His brother has already learned what happens when you get wild (see photo below of Obi after his encounter with something - I like to believe a feisty opossum). Obi came back limping, bloody, and sat on our sofa for almost a week only moving to get water (which we brought to him initially). Since then he has fully recovered, and doesn't go on such long adventures anymore.

But Chewy is a different story. In between his naps he ventures into fields, brings home prizes for us (which are not welcome), and enjoys the beautiful outdoors. We would have forced him to be inside, but he knows how to use the dog door and keeping Yoda inside all the time really isn't an option.

Plus, in case you don't remember - he prefers to be wild, so life solely indoors would be no life for him. So today we made missing signs and posted them around hoping that Chewy will abandon his wild ways and come home. So if you see him...please tell him to come home and we will try to make his indoor life a little more exciting.

Crappy

Excuse my language, but need to share a couple of crappy stories. Literally!
Once upon a time, I got accepted to present at a conference...twice. Yep, so I prepared to travel to beautiful San Antonio, stayed in a beautiful hotel (lacking a little sound proofing) on the riverwalk. I met great people, got some great networking done, and presented my sessions. I even had some time to walk around the riverwalk and soak in the atmosphere. All in all it was looking to be a great trip. Then while enjoying the riverwalk after a nice lunch with my new friends, a bird pooped on me! Straight on my hair, glasses, and face. YUCK! Thankfully the nice people I was with, helped clean me up (with Clorox wipes) and I was able to go to my room to wash out my hair. This is not the first time a bird has given me such a message. Nope, I have actually had this experience before. I think it is getting old. Share the love poopy birds and go crap elsewhere.
Now for second crappy story. I don't have great luck when I travel by plane. I don't really do it very often (maybe 2 times a year at most). However, it seems I get more than my fair share of troubles. I have been delayed/cancelled for weather, missed a flight (or more accurately they overbooked the flight and kicked us off since we were one of the last to arrive), and now also been delayed due to mechanical failures. I have actually slept in an airport (I am sure I am not the only one, but it is annoying). So where I was going to arrive home on a Friday evening around 11pm, now looks like an arrival Saturday mid-day around noon - and this is if everything goes well. So, if you see me soon and I look disheveled and exhausted you will know why.
That is all, thanks for listening (reading).

2012 update

So I haven't been able to think of anything clever to write, so I just haven't written. Bad plan. I should write anyway, clever or not.

We are getting into a new groove this semester with my course schedule and the kids activities. Luckily it is "off season" for J so he picks up the slack. I am enjoying my job and trying to keep up on getting papers off in an attempt to publish - something I still don't feel like I do very well. I guess it is a learning process - but the curve seems a bit steep some days. My classes are great. I seem to have hard working students this semester. C still continues with gymnastics and H with soccer. This means 2 practices/games a week for each of them. They are also doing swim on Saturdays.

Other than that our life has been moving along - and someone got a year older. Yep, me! 32 is an interesting age - seems a lot closer to 35 which for some reason is a bit intimidating. I now consider us the "young" in the old group at church rather than the "old" in the young group at church. Maybe part of that is being done with school, but it feels a little weird. Seems so weird to me when people weren't around in the 80s - but that seems to be happening more and more.

Anyway, I had a great day - worked from home and got spoiled by my kids, hubby, parents, and friends. Felt very loved. My most exciting present was a watch that J got me (well ok, I picked it out, but it was his idea to replace the watch I have had forever that keeps falling apart). Anyway, I love the new watch!!! It is fashionable, comfortable, and I think Skagen has a customer for life.

Cancun

J attempted to surprise me with at trip to Cancun for graduation. Apparently my tendency to make plans foiled his big surprise (he was going to tell me less than 12 hours before we would need to leave for the airport), however when he told me I was still very surprised and excited. Plus I had 3 weeks to try and get fit for a swimsuit!

The flight there was uneventful (but we were pretty tired since we were up at 4am), and we had time to get settled and enjoy the rest of the day.

The weather, and scenery was perfect. Seriously, this photo was my view when laying on the beach - looks like a post card it is so perfect. The waves were also nice - would have been great for body boarding or surfing, but after John dove into some rocks and got this....

We decided that playing in the waves was probably best. The water was the perfect temperature and I never felt cold my entire time there! (Can't say I have that experience now that we are home). We got used to the pampered life immediately including lots of desserts, towel creations on the bed, massages, and delicious food.

We also enjoyed a bike ride, shopping, leisurely walks (although we had to consciously learn to slow down), and creatures around the resort. Here is the Mexican badger (tejon) getting food from a child at the resort. They were all over and very cute (even if they might carry diseases).

We even took an excursion to Cancun in an attempt to meet up with my brother to deliver his Christmas package on his mission. While we didn't end up meeting up we did find some good deals, and enjoyed exploring more than the resort (although we could have done that the whole time and still enjoyed ourselves). Here we are at a Cancun market. J made excellent use of his negotiation skills!

I loved being in Mexico, hearing Spanish, and getting away. The people in Mexico were a pleasure to be around.

I mean, really where else is there a mariachi band playing Christmas music???

The best part of the trip was definitely hanging out with my sweetheart. He was so sweet to plan this for me after enduring several years without much relaxation. I can't wait to escape again!

Graduation

Yes, it's true I actually graduated and they called my name out Dr. S N Douglas (of course they didn't pronounce my middle name right, but who couldn't have predicted that?). Strange to be called that. It was very dark outside when the ceremony was over so we didn't get photos of my parents or J afterwards. The kids opted not to attend after we described what it would be like. I felt good about their choice when I saw at least 5 kids in the hall part way through the ceremony. A great day!

With my advisor

My fellow graduates from the Special Education program.