Beginning of the End

Well, we graduated.  All the pomp and circumstance was more or less a half-hearted effort to try and act like a real university.  ACSC did an OK job, but I really don't like having to sing military songs at my own graduation ceremony.  Neither did the 500 other people that were there.  I think we were the most unenthusiastic chorus ever.  Most people just wanted to get home to start their next adventure in the Air Force.  Some of us were just really hungry (me). It was nice actually having days where the whole of it wasn't planned, scheduled, or scripted.  In the 97 degree heat, it was also nice not having to wear a uniform.  I packed the trailer, randomly snagging men from Fam Camp to help me life heavy things.  I think the desire to life heavy things for women is ingrained in male DNA.  Or was that pack mules?  I'm just so excited to NOT be reading military history or doctrine that I've already finished 2 books and a plethora of magazines.  I can't wait to get my hands on the Alden Library at home!

We stuck around for the week, not telling "Lonnie" that we were waiting for him.  He thought we left Thursday, but instead we totally surprised him today by hiding in the tornado shelter and then knocking on the camper door after he arrived!  The kids don't seem to fully understand that we are leaving Alabama permanently.  As we were driving away today I was saying "Bye Maxwell, Bye Montgomery" only to realize that Ayla fell asleep before we were even off the base.  We are in Huntsville tonight and I'm wearing the kids out in the hotel pool.  Best. Idea. Ever.

For all my faithful followers, this will be one of the last posts I do.  This project was all about a year in a trailer with the family in Alabama.  We weathered tornadoes, escapee children, fire ants, and many other things this year.  We travelled the South, ran our butts off, danced like no one was watching, and made new friends.  This has been one of the greatest experiences of my life, even with the late nights, mountains of reading, and 2 months without "Lonnie".  We will spend a month in New York with family (Lonnie is still in Kansas) before heading to our new home in Wichita.  For those who are wondering, our Colorado home in the Black Forest did not burn and the family living there is OK. 

Thank you all for reading, laughing, crying, and being there for us in all the many ways you were this year.  May you all take the opportunity to have great adventures yourselves!

Slainte. Go raibh maith agat!

Is That Your Child...?

So I know I said I would be too busy to post this week, and really I am.  However, the Universe thought it would throw me a number of curve balls during the busiest week I've had so far.  Now I think I mentioned this is Gathering Of Eagles (GOE) week.  I'm on the planning staff and we've had about 11 months of planning this "hall of fame" type event that has on-stage interviews, sponsored meals, distinguished visitors, a commisioned painting and history booklet, blah blah blah.  Anyway, it's a lot of work and the whole team is basically doing 16 hour+ days this week.  So on Monday, my Eagle (we all have an Eagle-hall of fame inductee-that we sponsor and interview on stage) was flying in with his wife.  In the morning, I was tying up loose ends in class and the GOE team was working on logistical things, like picking up 15 rental cars for the Eagles.  On the bus to the rental car place, I get a text from my babysitter Alyson that read exactly like this:  "Hey Kelly we have water coming from outside looks like something burst so I'm calling maintenancce to come and check"

Breathe deeply.  Really, this is how the week's going to start?  I start thinking "It's probably the external water hose; it was weak.  Maintenance never comes out, but that was a good thought.  I don't really have time today to fix this problem.  This is why I got married, so that I would never have to deal with this crap."  On the bus with me were about 5 guys who are on the GOE team that also live in Fam Camp.  They did a rocks-paper-scissors-Trex for who would help me with this, all of them claiming it was "soooo easy to fix".  I also texted all the men I know living in Fam Camp who were NOT on that bus with me.  None were home.  I then called Baird and he walked me through what to tell Alyson to do, like turn the water off.  So she did that and after I got the rental car for my Eagle I had some time and ran home.  None of those "helpful" men on the bus came with me.  I fixed that damn hose myself in the 90+ degrees with 90% humidity cursing both "Lonnie" for being in Kansas and other men for not being more like him and helping me.

Tuesday was awesome.  My Eagle, Lt Col Danny Berg, is a great guy and his wife Lorraine is so sweet.  We had a great dinner Monday night, and on Tuesday we took Kai on the trolley tour of Montgomery.  Kai warmed up to them right away.  He also scaled a 12 foot wall before we realized it!  We had a huge event at the local baseball stadium and I had time to talk with Pearl Judd, a WASP pilot from WWII; "Bud" Traynor who was the Operation BABYLIFT pilot and saved 170 Vietnamese babies when his C-5 crashed and his awesome wife Pam; Dick Cole, who was Jimmy Doolittle's co-pilot for the famous Doolittle raid (he still drinks beer and parties!); and Gen (ret) Ron Fogelman, the 15th Chief of Staff of the Air Force.  Yeah, our Eagles are some pretty amazing people!  Bob Hoover, the greatest pilot who ever lived (go ahead, Google him!) said to me after posing for a picture, "When God was handing out Goodies, he gave you more than most!"  Was I just hit on by a 97 year old man?  Yes, yes I was.  And enjoyed every minute!

Bob Hoover: my new suitor

So we finally make it to today, the day of my interview.  I was so nervous and so was my Eagle.  He was so worried he would swear alot or pass out.  I told him I'd go shot for shot of whiskey with him beforehand, but we both agreed that might lead to more swearing.  We had a great interview in front of about 400 people.  Tonight was also the big BBQ for 1000 people that I was part planner for.  We did a great job preparing, so when I showed up with the kids, there was nothing to do but enjoy the food and the static airplanes.  We had arranged a C-130 to be there, and it was all opened up for people to climb around in.  The kids loved that!  Orion like running up aft ramp, Ayla liked swinging from the front stairs, and Kai liked the cockpit.  At one point, I was trying to round up the kids and as I was strapping Orion into the stroller, I look up and see Kai ON TOP OF THE AIRPLANE!! 

Holy crap!  Kai is where?!

I about lost my sh*t because in my head all the following thoughts were occuring simultaneously:

"how the hell did he climb on top of a 2 story airplane"
"OMG he's going to fall and die"
"how did NO ONE see him crawling up the side of an airplane"
"I'm totally getting arrested for this"
"Please don't fall, please don't fall, please don't fall..."
"Be calm, don't scare him"
"Jesus, REALLY!  How did he get up there!"

I run towards the front of the plane, yelling at Kai to get down.  I get to the stairs and start to go up into the cockpit area and I see that there is actually a roof hatch and a ladder up to the top of the plane.  It was open for people to look out of and so the minute I realized that it was purposeful and I wouldn't go to jail and lose my children, I calmly called Kai down and immediately strapped his ass in the stroller.  Good God child, did you really have to give me that kind of heart attack?  Now, for those of you wondering what I was doing with a camera instead of watching my kid scale an airplane, this was actually done after the original incident.  I let him go back up so I could get a picture.  The good news is that all the kids lived through this, I didn't have a heart attack, and we all got to hang out more with my Eagle, who is a critical care air evacuation nurse and helped rescue American hostage, John Solecki, from Pakistan in 2009.

Kai, Ayle, Lt Col Berg, and Lorraine enjoying BBQ

Apocalypse soon...

Welcome to June and almost a whole month without "Lonnie".  Knock wood: the camper is still intact and I've only been locked out by the kids once, the car is still running and is finally clean, no one has been to the ER, and Kai was only lost in the world's largest aquarium for a mere 10 minutes.  All in all, we are winning!  This is the last week of Air Command and Staff College and our last week in Alabama. While my classmates are winding down, I am just gearing up for the Gathering of Eagles program (http://www.goefoundation.com).  Check out the website, I'm totally on it as a team member!  We get to meet and work with famous air power legends, but it's a solid week of 16+ hour days, the culmination of an entire year of work.  I've been emotionally wrestling with leaving the kids with babysitters for all the waking hours this week.  I finally realized that there have been WAY more things that I've done to them that will require therapy than simply a week without me.  

So there won't be any blogs from me this week.  I'll catch everyone one up at the end, prior to our graduation next Monday.  That's a day I'm really looking forward to, not because I haven't liked it here, but because I am ready to move on to my next challenge as Chief Nurse of the 931st Aerospace Medicine Squadron at McConnell AFB, Kansas.  For once, "Lonnie" and I will be stationed together.  Yes, military serendipity at its finest.  My new reserve position will be a "one weekend a month" type of scenario, but will be guaranteed to take much more time then that.  However, I'm not really focused on the new job (although I should be), I'm more concerned on how we are going to get through the next 12 years (length of time before "Lonnie" retires) without losing a home to a tornado.  I've researched Dome Homes, Berm Homes, old military silos, and not living in Kansas as all viable options.  "Lonnie" continues to point out that our house is in a neighborhood where all the houses are from the 1920's and have basements.  My answer is, "well, the every-100-year-killer-twister is most likely going to hit there then.  Those houses are tempting fate!!"  He was not amused with my statistical prediction. The good news is that we won't be living in our trailer, which pretty much would have ensured we'd be homeless before the end of the year.

The kids are starting to grasp that change is coming, mostly by screaming "we want to go home" while we are sitting in the trailer.  Um, we are home.  Either they keep transporting through time and are living in another place, or just simply want to live in a house again, I'm not sure.  Regardless, I think the confined space is starting to get to them.  The traditional sibling fighting, tattling, antagonizing, etc has been in full swing.   The role of "Lonnie" is being played by Kai who orders time-outs, and Ayla has been parenting by announcing all the things she does not like about her brothers' behaviors.  Orion ignores the other too, thereby filling in the role of kid.  

If we survive the week, I'm sure the story will be awesome!

Tiny Dancer

At some point in the life of most little girls, they will be subjected to The Recital.  This is the one event that parents adore yet cringe at simultaneously.   Little girls, all adorable in their toule and lace, tapping and piroetting for an audience of overexcited moms hoping their little angel will be the next prima ballerina (although after seeing Black Swan I don't know why any parent would wish for that, but eh, some moms are nuts).  The flip side is that for months you've been driving your kid to dance class every week, missing meals, torturing the rest of the family with the schedule.  You've also emptied most of your bank account paying for the The Recital outfit, which I remember as the itchiest thing I've ever put on my body and as a result the only pictures my parents have of me in said outfit involve crying.  To this day, I blame that dance outfit for my inability to relate to others.  OK, not really.

Lucky for us, we didn't have to drive Ayla anywhere for dance.  The lessons happened right at school during the school day.  I was never inconvenienced with schedule conflicts, however I did take out a small loan for The Recital outfit.  Really, the biggest pain was arranging a sitter for the boys during the rehearsal and Recital.  The last thing I needed to deal with during The Recital was Orion and Kai thinking they belonged on the stage too.  Just let that image sink in for a bit...feathers and tap shoes flying everywhere, screaming little girls, dogs and cats living together...mass hysteria!  Luckily, I have friends who watched them so all the attention was on Ayla. 

The rehearsal was great.  She danced and looked like she was having a great time.  All in all, I was impressed at the rehearsal and thought she dealt with being on stage pretty well. She is the youngest and littlest girl in her class, so my expectations were way exceeded.  Except for that one time where the dance instructor scolded her for jumping.  After that she stood there with her fingers in her mouth sticking her tongue out.  Yup, that's the attitude I'm looking forward to in 12 years. 

On the day of The Recital, we made it in time to prep in the school hallway with 40 other little girls in various outfits and dozens of tap shoes (the sound was deafening). The linoleum was like an ice rink with the tap shoes; little girls were flying everywhere just trying to walk.  It was like an episode of Dancing with the Stars, only with more talent. I thought boys were hyper, but apparently that award goes to anyone wearing tap shoes. Of course, if I was wearing itchy costumes (or wearing tap shoes) I wouldn't sit still either. It took all the willpower of the adults in the hall to get those girls out on stage. Once there, I was hopeful for a repeat of the rehearsal performance. But instead, my little darling stood on stage, fingers in her mouth, looking out at the big dark audience and said "Mommy...I want my Mommy" very softly through the whole song. It was the most pitiful and cutest thing ever! Other parents even started commenting, "Look at the little one on the end, she's so cute!" Sigh. Well, I suppose there is always gymnastics.  At least the outfits are cheaper.

It's Whiskey Then...

Remember those body fluids I didn't want to clean up?  Have you ever seen the look on a kid's face just before they are about to projectile vomit?  It's a mixture of surprise and "do I have to eat that liver" kind of look.  Then the mouth slowly opens and that gagging sound happens...right before you get sprayed with it.  Heavy sigh...I completely understand why single parents may choose to bury their sorrows in alcohol because honestly nothing else is possible to indulge in with kids around.  Food is impossible because they take all mine.  Can't online gamble or sext because the kids hoard the computer or try and steal my phone.  Really, it's only me and the wine after they are all in bed. At least the wine doesn't talk back.

Anyone concerned about my welfare, don't be.  I'm not going to become a raging alcoholic because pretty soon I'll run out of wine (or whiskey now!) and the thought of taking the kids into a wine store with ALL those glass bottles makes me sober.  And frankly, the fam camp posse has been quite supportive, even to the point of one guy giving Kai the "your the man of the house now" talk.  It was really cute.  And then he threatened to duct tape him to the chair, which was hilarious!  Kai's response was "I'll duct tape YOU to a chair."  Little man's getting sassy. 

News on the tornado front, "Lonnie" and I may have found a house to rent in the College Hill district.  It was a toss up between 2 places, one that had a nice layout and neat back yard but no one would be able to visit unless they slept in the garage.  The other was a bit worn, but bigger, fully fenced backyard, and fence opens up to the College Hill park.  We went with the latter.  At least if the kids escape the back fence, they'll have a whole park to navigate before finding a road.  Thankfully, it's not a dry county!

What Mother's Day?

You ever have one of those days where everything just goes right?  A day where the kids, while challenging, are really just awesome and the rain that was supposed to ruin a Saturday never comes? A day where you have laryngitis so bad that you can't make a single sound, yet the kids don't take advantage of that weakness by running out of squeaking range?  I had that day yesterday.  We went to a street fair in Montgomery and the kids danced to music and got their bouncy-house fix.  Then later we rode the local paddlewheel boat up the Arkansas River with my friend Michelle, and then stayed at the riverfront for Second Saturday and watched the kids run all around to live music until the fireworks (when it actually did start raining, but we saw the fireworks from a dry car).  Only once did I consider that I should have brought life jackets for the boat ride (it was a triple decker dinner cruise, so not life jackets not required).  Only once did I worry that 10pm would be too late to wait for fireworks.  And only once did I lose Kai in the crowd--the train went by, I found him next to the fence watching it.  Yesterday was a day that makes you thankful you have kids to share the world with.

And then there was today.  Mother's Day of all ironies.  If I have to clean another stinking body fluid off the floor, so help me, I'm going straight to whiskey!  No one escaped at the grocery store (which was nice), but once we were home Orion found the street and figured that was a better place to play then the yard.  I, in my daze of head cold and laryngitis, left the car radio on while Ayla was sleeping and killed the battery (no it wasn't to hot to leave her in there).  Thankfully, fam camps guys are helpers (well, you would be too if a cute girl walked up and said "I have a guy problem only you can fix" :), and we jumped the car back to life.  And while we were jumping the car, naked and wet children started running out of the trailer having somehow opened the shower door.  Naps were non-existent, so by evening everyone was in rare form and I think the only reason the neighbors didn't suspect my kids screaming was a problem was because they were drunk. I poured myself a class of wine at 6pm.  It's still sitting on the counter.

This is Week One without "Lonnie".  For those of you just tuning in, here's the story.  Upon arriving in Alabama, we figured that we probably would not be returning to Colorado Springs.  We were expecting to go back to Colorado somewhere, just not there.  "Lonnie" was fed up with his job and had been scoping out things.  He interviewed for a few active guard positions (still National Guard but full time like active duty).  I requested to live in a green place with water, and "Lonnie" insisted on having mountains.  Neither us of got our wish, which means that we'll be perfectly happy...in Wichita Kansas.  The "arts center" of Kansas.  The home of Westboro Baptist Church.  It does have a river, or at least that's what the map suggests.  The college mascot is the flying broomsticks (which I find epically funny and very Harry Potter-ish) and Wichita State is a leading autism research center. 

One stipulation to the job was that "Lonnie" start immediately, or in calendar days 7 May.  After our whirlwind Talladega weekend, "Lonnie" did the entire 13 hour drive in one day to make it to work on time his first day.  This job is permanent, meaning that "Lonnie" will be a full time National Guard engineer with all the benefits of being active military (like health care and sex scandals).  We won't be leaving Kansas until he retires or unless we can't take the vast, mind-numbing flatness.  He is charged with doing his job, finding something redeeming about living in Kansas, and finding us a place to live before June.  I'm alone with the kids until I'm released from Maxwell in June.  I'm charged with not blowing up the trailer and getting everyone to Kansas alive and without ER visits.  At this point, we are both winning (and not in a Charlie Sheen kinda way).  "Lonnie" has been skyping me on tours of rental houses in an old city area called College Hill-I figure, no way am I living in the country with no scenery, might as well live in the city so I can try and forget that I'm in Kansas.  Other than the car dying and some minor scraps, things appear to be in order here (knock wood, throw salt over my left shoulder, cross myself, cross fingers, cross toes...).

Now, where's my wine? 

Culture Immersion...I speak fluent redneck

I'll eventually get to the blog where I talk about being a single parent again.  Sorry, ya'll are gonna have to wait for it because something WAY more monumental happened last weekend.  We did a full cultural immersion into Southern living.  We spoke the language, we wore the clothes, we heard the live country music, but avoided the beer (sorry, some things I won't do)...ladies and gentlemen, we camped on the infield of Talladega superspeedway for the Talladega 500 NASCAR event!!  We figured, as long as we are living in Alabama and experiencing the South that we may as well attend the Holy Grail of redneck sporting events (no, not closeline highjump, old tire toss, or name that gun), it's not just NASCAR, it's Talladega! And for the record, Ricky Bobby is not a real race car driver, however Dick Trickle is :)

So, a little background to this situtation.  My Dad loves NASCAR.  He and friends used to camp out at Watkins Glen (a NY NASCAR track) frequently.  So when we moved to Alabama I immediately knew that my Christmas present to my Dad would be a Talladega weekend.  I conspired with my Grandma to arrange the logistics and it all worked out.  "Lonnie", my Dad, the kids, and trailer all left for the race on Thursday in order to get to our infield campsite during an afternoon track downtime.  Basically, you have to drive over the race track to get big rigs into the infield, and rather than trying to do all that with kids at night, they left early.  I joined them on Friday after my classes. I arrived in still in my uniform.  This is apparently a license to be hit on and harrassed about having guns in the same conversation.  Thank you track security, camoflage does not automatically equate to being heavily armed.  Oh wait, I'm in Alabama...I withdrawal my objection.  When I got to our site, literally 50 yards from Turn 2 (yes, that's close), there was a race going on and the boys were in their kid-headphones enthrawed with the cars; Ayla was passed out in the trailer with her headphones still on beccause she refused to take them off.

NASCAR itself is pretty simple...all the cars go left in a circle really fast.  Many people don't even watch the actual race. They sit outside their campers and watch it on TV!  We got to know the "neighbors" who were all enthralled with the kids and thought we were the best parents ever by bringing our kids to a race (we were called "A true NASCAR family" more than once, not sure if I should be proud).  I'm a bit scared that was the standard I needed to exceed here.  I went walking with Kai and Ayla during Orion's nap so that I could get a lay of the land.  We walked down the party street made up of young people and trailers tricked out with stereo systems, stripper poles-not kidding, and lots of alcohol.  It was only 6pm-still daylight-so I didn't imagine I'd be exposing the kids to frat life so early.  They fit right in by crashing a party when Ayla started dancing and slapping her butt to some music while Kai tried to steal a watermelon.  We were invited to stay and offered the watermelon, which I politely refused.  Kai also managed to scrouge food from almost every trailer we passed.

Saturday it rained. And rained. And rained.  I felt really bad for the people in tents...and those who passed out outside.  You can't race when it rains because, like everyone in the state of Colorado, NASCAR doesn't know how to drive in the rain.  We were camped on a grass site, meaning that there was standing water and no chance to avoid mud.  After a few hours, I was stir crazy with all the kids couped up, so we went for a drive to make them sleep.  The rain amazingly stopped and with special jet engine dryer trucks, they were able to dry the track enough to race.  There was a good crash right in front of us (best part of the race) and the final laps were sublime at sunset.  I know, NASCAR and sublime in the same sentance...didn't think it was possible. 

 

After the kids were in bed, "Lonnie" and I walked down to the 'lude and decivious' area for a live Chris Young concert.  We saw the stripper poles being used (not by strippers, just by drunk 40-somethings in cowboy boots), specially crafted beer/music wagons with lights!, and a lot of drunks dancing in the mud.  I will take this opportunity to note that NASCAR fans can seriously constuct some of the most amazing structures out of plywood and 2x4s.  Simply add a couch and voila, perfect track-side viewing. 

 

The morning after inspired me to consider that NASCAR is what you get when you have the people of Walmart/state fair/flea market as one unique species all mixed with alcohol.  It was Animal House with more mud, minus teeth and college educations.  And Danica Patrick's pinup (shes' the girl driver).  Because I always make sure that when I go somewhere in my RV that I pack the tiki bar, disco ball, and mechanical bull.  Oh, and the flag of my favorite college football team (which would have to be Alabama if I didn't want my trailer set on fire by a rival).

 

 

Now, I won't go into the moments when we were able to sign our names on the racetrack finish line, watched all the drivers do the catwalk, or got a tour of pit row before the race.  Nor will I go into how Kai and I snuck back into the pits for the "Drivers, start your engines" part.  What I really want to impart on everyone is that, despite all that cool stuff, my kids were more interested in throwing rocks into the leftover puddles than in watching cars go 200mph. That and getting beads from anyone offering them.  I have to say, they understand this whole immersion things better than the rest of us.  We'll have to work on curing them of the accents!

 

 

 

On the Road Again

It's been awhile since I've posted which means 1 of 2 things: 1) we've been really busy or 2) no one has been the ER recently!  It's actually both, thankfully, and I've been saving up all our travel stories for one big RV Living Is Awesome post.  So here it is...

Stone Mountain, lake/Mt is behind me

The greatest thing about living in a truly mobile home (not just one that claims mobility but would only really move if a tornado was helping!) is that we can just "up and go" at our leisure.  No flights to pre-book, no hotels shortages to deal with, and no packing...EVER!  That really is the best thing honestly, because when you have 3 kids that are all under age 5, there are many things that you just NEED to have.  And I never have to worry about forgeting one of those random, can't-find-it-at-any store-at-11pm things.  "Lonnie" never fails to say at some point in the trip, "Hey did you remember my..."  Sometimes he gets me, mostly I just punch him in the arm.  However, there are some unique concerns that do come with trailer living.  We have been on the road for the better part of 2 weeks, covering 3 states, and I have some advice for the Gas Buddy App and anyone considering this lifestyle:

1. Google the size of gas station parking lots, there are many we can't get into,
2. Gas Buddy: if you post a price for diesel fuel, don't be out of it!  Or have 3 gas stations in a row be
    out of  it! (10 miles left in the tank, we can make it, turn off the AC, stop the radio, no breathing...),
3. Never ever tow a trailer in the suburburbs of Orlando, Florida looking for gas.  Just don't,
4. If an RV park on the Gulf has availability 2 weeks before Spring Break...consider researching just
    a little more before commiting to stay.  Sometimes the Walmart parking lot is a better deal,
5. If you are having fun, stay the extra night.  If it is 40 degrees on the beach and raining, leave,
6. If you have friends near an area you are visiting, definately call them!  Even a few hours with a
    friend is worth the time to coordinate a visit, (thanks Tara, Lalla, Tim, Kathy, SC Ihme's, Jerry,
    Karen, Sarah...)
7. One word: Crockpot!!  Figure out how to keep the power on in the trailer and dinner is ready on
    arrival.  Some of the best lamb I've ever had,
8. Any drive over 6 hours is too much to survive with kids, keep it short and your temper will be.

Kai after a day at Universal Studios

During our jaunt away we visited Mayport Naval Air Station (great Fam Camp and beach!) and St. Augustine, Universal Studios (DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT take kids under 4 here, I don't care if they are free and want to see Curious George!), MacDill AFB Fam Camp (awesome locale), Charlotte Motor Speedway (coldest and wettest half marathon ever!), Gulf highway (beautiful drive), and Stone Mountain Georgia.  Our next big trip is the NASCAR event at Talledega, infield camping!  That will definately have its own post because if it's anything like a state fair, well...you get it.

The best parts of the trip were walking, in our winter coats, on the Mayport beach and watching Orion just laugh while wading in the ocean.  HARRY POTTER!!!!!  When Kai went up to the food counter in Dr. Seuss land and told the lady "I want green eggs and ham, please" and them proceeded to eat them all!  HARRY POTTER!!! (so fun it needed to be said twice)  Taking the train around Stone Mountain after a morning full of hanging out at the lake right next to our campsite.  Ayla trying to talk to the pelicans.  Seeing the dolphin in the Gulf just before we headed home.

Twins at the beach

Things I did not enjoy while traveling included almost running out of gas in rural Alabama and the amount of times my kids seem to need to pee during a roadtrip.  I mean really, we've got a schedule to keep people!  Backing up a 40 foot trailer after dark, also not fun.  But to top it off, completing a Tough Mudder is not high on my list of things to plan on a vacation.  Sure, it's like some cult/status/fitness thing, but paying big money for the priviledge of running (kind of) 12 miles in 45 degree weather in the mud and through obstacles that are wet/cold/muddy/cause bruises/electrically shock you with your 10 closest friends is insane.  It just is.  The T-shirt is awesome.  Still crazy.

"Lonnie" and me post-Mudder
 

I'm thankful that there weren't any truly horrible (yet hilarious) things that happened these past weeks that would make this blog fulfilling for everyone, because reveling in someone else's madness is way fun!  I do hope that some of the adventure did get through because there was just so much we did that a true account would long, boring, and have too many pictures of me in Harry Potter world (so awesome!).  The thing about living in a trailer is that at the end of the day, the family craziness is really the same as any non-mobile family has.  We just do it on the road in a confined space.  With the mosquitos, who have returned to Alabama just as we have.  Let the games begin!

Mystical Disorder of RVs

You know the great thing about an old car (besides being totally paid off) is that every once in awhile, the gremlins in the car will get restless.  This only happens with old cars.  New cars have young and lazy gremlins, while old cars have bored and malicious ones.  I discovered that our gremlins were fed up with all the rain we've been having.  I was driving up to Birmingham the other day.  A bright, sunny and warm day.  About half-way there I turn the radio up, gotta have the rockin' tunes.  Suddenly, the rear windshield washer and wiper come on.  I think that I merely knocked it and try to turn it off, only to discover it was off and I just restarted it.  Then, it continues to go off.  The people behind me must think I need new glasses or just have OCD about rear window cleanliness.  The stupid thing doesn't stop!  I finally just turn the wiper itself on, and this stops the fluid.  But now the wiper is going...and it's still bright and sunny out.  I feel like that old person who leaves their left blinker on for 80 Kilometers (you had to be there), only I realize that maybe that poor old person wasn't forgetful, just dealing with a gremlin.  I try, at one point, to turn the whole thing off and for about 10 minutes it works.  Then the washer and wiper start going again and I resign myself to driving with the rear wiper just going in order to save the washer fluid.  "Lonnie", of course, thinks that I'm an idiot and this couldn't possibily be what is happening.  Until it happens to him and I am vindicated!  So what was the problem, you ask?  "Lonnie" figures that after 3 days of torrential downpours, the chip in the wiper was wet (gremlins were sick of rain) and caused a short.  Problem is temporarily solved by wiper being disconnected.  I figured we'd be set until we went to leave at oh-dark-and-cold-thirty this morning for our race in Birmingham, only to have a dead battery.  To the gremlins credit, it was 23 degrees out and honestly I didn't want to be up either.  However, a quick jump fixed all and we had a great Mercedes Half-Marathon.  I can't walk at the moment, but the shiny medal was soooo worth it!!

 



OK, I must tell you all about Mardi Gras.  This is why living in a trailer is great, roadtrips!!! Now, anyone who poo-poos this awesome celebration just because you don't think you'll get enough beads because you a: don't want to flash strangers or b: would flash them but aren't confident in your advertising...must try Mobile, Alabama for your future celebrations!  Not only is there a plethora of free beads thrown at you, but there is no nudity required (and you'd probably get arrested if you did).  Mobile is the home of Mardi Gras.  Yes, I know you all thought it was New Orleans, however they are posers.  A man by the name of Joe Cain revived the fesitval of Mardi Gras in 1867 (post Civil War) by parading down the main street dressed like a crazy Indian (because the Natives never surrendered to the Union).  The rest is history.  There are weeks of daily parades, and we hit 3 parades and one 5K race in just a weekend!  It is super kid friendly and very safe...which for those who know me, these are not normally 2 criteria I waste time considering for a family adventure (what, there is a small possibility of a hospital trip?  Let's do it and take the kids!). 

 

Mobile has great, fresh gulf seafood (no added petroleum), the USS Alabama battleship, and beaches.  The kids really liked the battleship, except after Ayla slid/fell down some stairs Navy-style.  That scared her and battleship time was over although it was the coolest move ever--she slipped straight down riding the railing, "Lonnie" catches her, no injuries.  Instead, we focused on parades which all had cool names, like the Mystical Order of Time, and all their floats were time-themes.  The kids loved the floats (the ones at night were all lit up) and getting free stuff thrown at them.  It was so bad at one point that Kai was trying to take beads from other adults!  Orion took to screaming as loud as he could as each float passed, not to get anything, just to scream loudly.  Ayla danced to the music and fought Kai for beads and free toys.  Oh, and we got whacked with moon pies which are actually pretty gross tasting, but the kids were nuts for them.  I did get beaned in the back of the head with a container of uncooked Ramen Noodles.  Who the heck throws those at a parade?!   Our total tally of spoils was countless beads (in the hundreds I think) 7 stuffed animals, frisbee, 5 plastic Mardi Gras cups, 3 balls, 5 glow sticks, 2 glow rings, candy and moon pies, one pair of kids swim goggles, an I-Pad (not really), and a styrofoam tree.  Unfortunately, we lost the Ramen Noodles.  Better luck next year!

 

 

Kids Are So Encouraging

There is a mystery in the trailer. We think that it's aliens but the bite marks are definately mammalian.  Our fruit has been coming up missing.  Two weeks ago "Lonnie" was outside and when he came in there was apple carnage strewn throughout the trailer.  Nothing left but four measely apple cores, and a fifth found later under the bed. We dusted for fingerprints and came up blank. Last week, again during a time when the kitchen area was ignored, an empty blackberry container was found on the table.  A true massacre of mastication of so precious a fruit!!  At this point, we were starting to wonder if the neighbors were playing tricks on us, but no, it couldn't be.  This past weekend, we finally discovered the culprits after finding every one of the strawberries, still in the carton, each with a single bite taken out.  The offenders were caught hovering over their prey like lions.  Our kids, the ferral ones, have been getting into the fridge when we aren't looking and desimating entire populations of fruit at one sitting!!  I mean, come on, one bite out of every strawberry??  I suppose we should be happy that it's fruit and not chocolate or Borax.  At least the mystery is solved and we don't have to report the findings to Area 51.

In this bitter cold Alabama winter (not) there are some days when people feel down or blue.  It's usually those days or moments when your kids do something so incredibly cute it just lifts your spirit for hours.  If they are our kids, they do something tremendously destructive involving an urgent care visit.  And while this also lifts me out of the doledrums long enough to supervise explain things to the doctor, the high is not nearly as much fun.  Recently, however, the kids have been emminently supportive of many of my endeavors.  Why, just last week I was wiping down the kitchen table before breakfast and Ayla, watching me, starting cheering "Go, go, go, Mommy, go!" as if I was sprinting the last half of a desperate housewives marathon and barely beating Susie Homemaker for the win.  I had no idea that cheerleading had spread to the domestic arena.  Her cheering did come in handy in a recent Mardi Gras race we did as a family.  And by family I mean that "Lonnie" ran an 8K by himself and I ran a 5K with Orion strapped to my back AND I was pushing the other two in the stroller.  At about the 2 mile point was a large hill and I was tired.  About halfway up I hear "Go Mommy, go, go, Mommy, go, go!"  Little Ayla was cheering me up the hill.  If I hadn't been using my heart to provide my body oxygen at that moment, it might have melted. 

On the flip side are the boys.  They are adorable, surely, but definately not as supportive.  Tonight, after Kai went to bed, I was humming while doing some reading.  I'm about 3 bars in and I hear an abrupt and slightly annoyed, "Mommy, what are you doing?" followed immediately by "Mommy, stop that."  I explain that Mommy is humming and apologize through smiling lips that I woke him.  "Lonnie" can tell me all he wants that I can't sing, but normally the kids prefer my donkey bray to his nails-on-chalkboard.  About 10 minutes later I forget and start humming again.  "Mommy, why are you doing that?"  Apparently he's not asleep yet. 

Failure is Not An Option

Some will use the word stubborn.  I prefer determined.  This was part the conversation I was having with myself last Saturday in the middle of my 2nd half-marathon.  The conversation was really something that only a person walking 13.1 miles alone would have with herself.  I also had visions of Stephen King's The Long Walk,  but that was probably just my overactive imagination. Anyway, the conversation was occuring in preparation for how many people would think I was a) crazy for doing the race in the first place and b) crazier for trying to finish with a busted knee.  So here's about how this conversation with myself went:

Mile 1: crap, my knee is hurting again. Dang, this is way earlier then the other race. Ow ow, shit.  OK, walk for a bit.

Mile 2: OK, let's go wimp, jog a bit and see how it feels.  Ow ow, crap, nope.  Something is really wrong this time...damn.  Well (insert variety of 4 letter words), this is going to be a long 11 more miles.  Can I really just walk this?  I don't want to freakin walk this.  I'm not a walker.  Try again in a bit.

Mile 4: Hmmm, I wonder if I should just stop at the half way point.  The running is over.  I need to walk.  Frick.  Oh damn, here come all the old people.  OK, keep walking.  Maybe try the speed walk..nope nope, that hurts.  OK, slow walk.  I really don't want to walk this whole race.  Ugh.  Holy crap, is that a hill?

Mile 5: I bet I'm gonna get lapped by the faster runners any minute. Boy that'll be embarrassing. (This happens, I cheer on a friend who took second in the race.)  Well, I am HURT.  Shut up, stupid excuses.  Sigh, I think I'm going to be the last one today.  I'll just do the whole damn thing.  I started the race and I'll finish it, can't make anything worse at this point.

Miles 6-9: I can't believe I'm going to be last.  (insert short conversation with second to last runner-we briefly discuss his open heart surgery 2 years ago and the marathon he's running next month. He passes me).  So now I'm going to be last AND beat by an old man who had open heart surgery AND who is running a marathon.  I'm not even doing a marathon. Heck I can barely make it through this stupid half.  Sigh again, quit whining and keep walking.

Mile 10: ("Lonnie" drives by in the truck to check on me, his race is over, and asks if I'm hurt.)  No, I purposefully do all my half marathons at a slow pathetic limp.  OK, breathe, that's not nice (I reply that I'll be fine and that I think I tore the cartilage.)  So, I always tell my patients that they should just try, no matter how good or bad they do.  I always tell them that it's OK to be last, that just being in the game is enough.  Right, I'll totally OK.  God, I'm a hypocrite.  Get over it.  You're last, not a failure.  Very different things.  Psycho.  Whatever!  Maureen is totally going to lecture me about this.  I wonder what her time was?

Mile 12: OMG, how freakin long is this course?!?!?  A mile left, no problem.  I'm totally eating ice cream tonight.  You know, someone has to be last.  I guess it's OK to be last.  I'll finish.  It's OK.  Being last in this little race is fine.  Everyone gets a medal for doing it, hooray for shiny!  I wasn't going to be first anyway, so I didn't really lose anything. ("Lonnie" drives by again, plans to meet me at the finish).  I love my husband, he's so nice checking on me. 

Mile 13: A small cheering crowd is waiting at the finish. (Small tear runs down my face) Almost done!  Awww, "Lonnie" is going to walk the last bit with me, no, oh wait, he's chasing after one of the kids.  No prob, almost finished!!  Oh, I see an  ice pack!

"Lonnie" took first in his age group for the 10K race!   I'm so proud of him.  The doctor is sending me to a specialist, so I actually have no idea what's wrong with my knee, but I have my suspicions.  I ran some today with similar results, that being pain.  No problem though, I'm doing a 5K this weekend and looking at another half-marathon later next month.  I mean, at this point I know that I can walk one.  I also know that I can deal with being last if that happens again.  And who ever said that running wasn't good for you?! 

Make Someone's Day

There are many ways that a person can offer up a precious moment to another human, something that enlivens them, gives them hope or laughter. Ayla did that today for us by bending over at the waist, looking at us through her legs, wiggling her butt and screaming "look at my butt, look at my butt!!"  I would be truly concerned about her teenage years, if not for the fact that I made someone's day in a similar way today...and no, it wasn't "Lonnie."

So there I was, starting out a 15K race having to pee.  Not like I hadn't gone to the bathroom twice already that morning, but in the corrals with 16000 other runners, I have to pee again.  I start running, hoping that, like normal, the running will take away the need to pee.  Mile 2 comes around and I still need to go. It's all I can think about and Carly Rae Jepsen's tunes can't block out the big golden elephant in my mind. The wait at the port-o-johns was awful (and I didn't wait to kill my run time), so I pressed on.  We were running in downtown Atlanta, where there is an unfortunate lack of trees and parks, or stores open on Sunday.  Finally, at Mile 5 I see my chance.  We were running under a huge overpass supported by gigantic columns that ran down a hill and these were behind some big bushes.  Perfect!!!  I run off the road and behind a column, hidden from view of my fellow runners, I drop traugh where golden bliss awaits.  That's when I here the guy laughing.  In my haste to go unnoticed from the race, I failed to realized that the other side of the columns was a large railyard with a bunch of train workers and their equipment.  One dude was standing on top of a truck looking at me and laughing his ass off!  Like, holding his belly, bent over and laughing.  I jokingly yelled to him, "Don't put this on you tube" and finished my task.  Dude was still laughing and calling his friends over!  As I ran back on the course, the other runners realized what this guy had been laughing at and I received that comment, "Looks like you made that guy's day."  Well, glad I could help.

And now I have really no excuse when "Lonnie" points to Ayla, who is still presenting her butt to us, and then back at me and says, "Gee, I wonder where she gets it from?"  However, at least I can say I made someone's day golden.

This was Mile 7, all better now

Lets shop for tornadoes

We survived the holidays. Not like there was any thing to prepare to survive, I mean, we don't have any crazy relatives and we didn't go anywhere near an airport. So technically, we didn't really have any thing to stress over.  Minus the projectile vomiting... and the evacuation from camp on Christmas day...oh, and the fact that I'm trying to finish learning Gaelic by tomorrow.  OK, so it wasn't a stress free 2 weeks.  On top of that, any time spent in a vehicle with our children eventually devolves into Lonnie or I yelling, "STOP touching (insert name)" and/or "for the love of god, be quiet!"

It started with Orion performing the spray puke maneuver in the middle of a drive through a beautifully lit park. Not some little park, but one that had thousands (really) of cars driving through bumper-to-bumper to view the spectacle. We were luckily right by the park facilities when trouble spewed, ha ha. No papertowls in the bathroom, the truck was out of napkins, so we had to finish the long evening with a half naked child sitting in a puke-soaked car seat. That fruitcake is looking pretty good right now, isn't it? 3 days later on our midnight return to Alabama, Kai got out for a potty break and yakked all over, but at least in a toilet. We now carry prescription strength anti-nausea drugs in the truck. And a bucket.

One cute story... we were in an old Department store in Columbia, SC, when Ayla spotted a tall, heavyset, white-bearded man in overalls. He looked just like Santa on his day off, so when Ayla screamed out at the top of her lungs "Santa", forcing everyone in the store to turn and look, the man had the poise to play along. It was totally cute and my new favorite holiday moment. Speaking of stores, the kids have a new favorite game called "go shopping with mommy."  Its pretty bad when we merely drive by a store they know and Ayla starts screaming "SHOPPING!"


Ayla with her mini Starbucks cocoa

Anyway, we were back less than 24 hours, having a lazy holiday involving me being more excited about the Disney parade then the kids, when the Force Support commander knocked on our door to let us know about the tornados. There was blue sky. It had rained hard all morning and was apparently going to get worse that night.  We had the stellar option of going to the on-base warehouse evacuation site.  Yes, 3 little kids sleeping in an open bay on cots.  Nothing could POSSIBLY go wrong.  So we packed our things and crashed at one of my flight-mate's homes (thanks Marchands!). We even did shelter time because a storm did come and tornados were spotted. 4 kids, 4 adults, and 2 large dogs in the laundry room shelter for almost an hour! Thank heavens for smart phones and reflective belts, both are excellent sources of entertainment!


Tod and Baird shelter-in-place smartphone style

Having survived the tornadoes, we spent pre-New Years in Chattanooga with no puking!  Only battlefields, history, a bit of snow and quality time with my friend Evie.  Kai spent the time practicing his new catchphrase, "god damn it", which reminds me that I shouldn't swear so often, or at least not as loud.  It was so much fun that I didn't get nearly as much Gaelic learned as I planned and now I'm trying to fit in 2 weeks of material in 4 days.  I will fail and be totally OK with it.  Well, a little OK. I'm spending every spare moment working on Gaelic and all I can remember with certainty is "thank you".  I can't spell or pronounce anything else.  Why didn't I choose another language, like Arabic...oh, I know, because it doesn't use letters!  Ugh.  If I could only learn all the Gaelic swear words I be succeeding in two areas and the kids would all be bilingual!


On to the new year and the second semester of school.  New adventures in the trailer await. We might even try that nude RV park...Nollaig Shona ya'll!