Half Mom, Half Dad

We were looking at old slides last night at my wife's family reunion. We get together every Labor Day weekend, and this time, at Jen's request, Dad broke out the old slide projector and we spent an hour or so looking at old photos.

Almost every photo brought laughs along with a funny story or two. Sometimes it took a bit longer to remember a particular story, at least every detail of it. And often, someone would comment how one of the now parents look just like their offspring. Our little Kirstie looks a lot like her mommy used to!

But as I looked at the photos, I kept thinking, "It's not totally like Kirstie..." (And not just because I think she looks like me...) :-) There was just something very different, even though there was a lot the same.

That got me to thinking about how we are all a mix of half mom and half dad. (And all of the people that went into that before them!) There's one part of dad and one part of mom, so I suppose that's true. Even still, when you look at some people, you can't help but say, "Wow! You look like your mom!" (Or, Dad, as the case may be.)

So where does the other half go? :-)

I have also noticed lately a pretty cool (and sometimes hard) thing about kids. Not only do they get physical traits passed down through the generations, they also get personality traits. Inside stuff that is harder to see. I think that's so fascinating. I like to think that I just am who I am. And, certainly that's true. The combination of "traits" I have from my parents and all my ancestors makes me unique, just like everyone is unique. But partly, I am also just like my mom, dad, grandmas, grandpas, etc.

How crazy is that? :-)

So somewhere in that little Kirstie who looks so much like her mommy is half of her daddy. I'm sure some of it can be seen in physical traits, but it will be interesting to watch her and see myself in her mirror. Hopefully she got mostly my good traits. :-)

Time

My grandpa turned 85 years old on Sunday. I called and got to chat with him just a little. Had a fun birthday planned with his family (my mom & dad, aunt & uncle, and a couple others) and told me he doesn't think 85 is that old.

But it is.

It's odd, but all I've been thinking when I think about him, or see the photos my dad sent along from the party is that his time here with us is probably pretty short. I know, it could be 10 or 15 years, which really is a good long time to enjoy, but it's a pretty short time, too.

Life passes too quickly.

Today is the 11th anniversary of the day that Jen and I chose to marry. Eleven years. That's a pretty long time. Today is also the 14th wedding anniversary of some friends of ours. That's a long time. My dad is celebrating his 40th high school reunion this year. A friend celebrated his 50th not long ago. Jen's parents celebrated 50 years of marriage a couple weeks ago.

Time passes. It just keeps moving on. And for some reason I am noticing that right now.

I am noticing that Grandpa may not be around much longer, and that makes me want to spend more time with him. I am noticing that Ian is not a little boy anymore. He's going to turn 10 in a few months. He's getting older, and experiencing life as Ian Campbell, not just our child. And that makes me want to spend more time with him.

What I am noticing - and have learned in my 33 years of life - is that spending time with people is the most important thing. I have learned also that all things in life must be balanced, but when all is finished, the most important thing is to just love and be loved. (As is evidenced by my just wanting to spend time with the people who are getting older faster than I want them to.)

The hope of those of us who live with Jesus is that the "end" that we are all rushing toward is not really an end at all, but a beginning. That life only changes - and for the better - when we reach the threshold between this life and the next. Grandpa has been a rough character at many times in my life, but he's my grandpa, and I love him, and sometimes I imagine what it will be like when we both - in our new bodies and complete selves - can, along with the other Redeemed, enjoy the eternal "now" of full life with Jesus. (Now we see darkly...)

I can't know what happens after we die. The Bible is full of hopeful language of resurrection and paradise and life with no more badness. And life with people we love here. No more curse, no more sin, no more death. Seems a good place to be.

We're not there yet, but the older I get, the faster it seems we're headed there.

Who knows, maybe we'll be there sooner than I think? :-)

Enjoy the time you have with those who are around you. Call up your grandpa and tell him you love him. Spend time with your son, or dad, or mom, or daughter, or spouse...

Today's as good a time to do that.

50

We got back late tonight from quite a party. It was a gathering of many old friends - and some new - to celebrate a milestone. Unfortunately, it's rather rare these days, and not just due to "natural" causes.

Jen's parents will be celebrating fifty years of marriage on June 25th of this year. Fifty. Not being alive fifty years, which is strange enough. Fifty years of being married.

In a recent conversation, it was brought up that Jen's mom has been driving a school bus for thirty years now. That's a real long time to do that. But, when I put to use my excellent math skills, I deduced that my mother-in-law had been NOT driving a school bus for TWENTY years prior to that 30-year feat.

My mortgage will take me 30 years to pay off. I am just slightly past 30 years on the planet. 30 years is a long time.

And then there's 50.

Congrats to my second mother and father. Fifty years of living life together, and loving people together. They are quite good at it. The room was filled with people who have been loved by Jim & Carolyn, and the air was filled with many stories from those previous 50 years. And from all appearances, there will be many more to come.

Jen & I have only eclipsed ten years of life as one. It feels like longer - in a very good way. I can't remember not being married to Jen. But we're only a fifth of the way to where her mom & dad are this month. Incredible.

Life passes quickly - Tim Russert was gone this week in a heartbeat - but sometimes we get to enjoy it for a good long time. It's good to stop and look back at all that has been and celebrate the good gifts God has given us.

Driving home tonight, I just felt like telling my family that I love them. I love who we the Campbells are, and I love being the dad of this family.

Fifty years seems far off now, but I bet these days now will seem like "just yesterday" when we get there.

On we go.

English Class

Riding home from the long weekend in Buffalo, Jen & I were talking in the front seat about anything and everything. (It is a 90 minute ride.) At some point we got talking about technology, and specifically the iPhone (I think wished we could look something up on the internet) and I said, "Maybe we can get one when (I forget what the first part was) ... and when there's ubiquitous wi-fi."

There was only a brief pause, and then I added, "Do you like it when I use big words like that?"

She replied, "Well, it makes me feel like I'm back in English class..."

Back To (The New) Reality

My two week hiatus from my desk job is over. As is my two week adventure of being the primary caregiver for four young kids, as well as taking care of daily household duties and helping Jen & Emma here and there when needed. It was wonderful, and I already miss it, but I am looking forward to moving back into a more normal routine.

I am in the office preparing for the craziness that will be my first Monday back. (Mixed feelings about that, to be sure.)

As I put all the kids in bed tonight, told each one of them how much I love them, and how much I loved spending every day all day with them for the past two weeks. I also told them I plan to take several 5 minute breaks tomorrow to come and give them big hugs! :-)

Some might think that spending all day every day taking care of four very young kids would be exhausting, tiring, and draining. And, they would be right. But the part that might be missed is that those four very young kids are four of my most favorite people, and even though I was exhausted at the end of every day... it was so worth it!

Tonight (at the last minute) I thought it might be a good idea to get a babysitter for the oldest four and go out for the evening with Jen. I am going back to normal office hours tomorrow, and she's going back to normal Mom hours tomorrow. Seemed a good way to bring in that next season. It was very nice for neither of us to have the kids responsibilities for this one evening. We just got a sub from Subway, and some ice cream from Chill & Grill, and went up to the community center and played a card game while watching the Sabres (WIN!). So very nice.

And tomorrow, I am hoping that all of this niceness did not exhaust me to where I need a vacation. I don't think it did. I believe that tomorrow I will be ready to get "back to reality" and move forward as a family of seven!

I'm lovin' it! :-)

Progress Report

Well, it's been a little over a week now that we have been home from the hospital with our newest family member, and it's even been a couple days since any of us has been sick. (Not sure which one of those bits of news is more welcome at this point...) ;-)

Today was a fun day, actually. There were no scheduled visits, which although greatly appreciated and enjoyed, do not really allow for any sort of a schedule to the day. Not so this day. We got a lot of cleaning done (even finally vacuumed) and finished 4 or 5 loads of laundry (and a few loads of dishes). We read library books in the morning before taking a walk up to the library (all seven of us!) and getting some more books! (We read some of those upon our return home!) We even had time to run some errands (the four older kids and me) which included a stop at our favorite ice cream place - CHILL & GRILL - for an end of the day treat!

It was a really fun day. :-)

We also took a break in the middle of the day (after lots of serious house cleaning) to play a game, just Dad and the three oldest kids. That was fun. I am thoroughly enjoying spending so much time with my kids. I love this part of having a new baby :-)

There have been a few fun kid moments over the past couple days...

Last night, after a looong day of fun on Easter Sunday (which included your normal easter fun as well as a visit from our friends the Chis and two trips to Chill & Grill!) Alex snuck upstairs to get ready for bed and as I was coming up to put the boys in bed, Alex said, "Wait, Dad! I'm almost done!" He was very happy about it, so I let him finish what he was scheming. When I got up there, I saw Alex putting the finishing touches on cleaning the bathroom for Mom & Dad. :-) He said he knew we were tired, and he wanted to do that for us. He cleaned the sink, and even used "just a washcloth and some water" to clean our toilet. :-) :-) :-) Very cute... a little gross... but very cute.

Tonight as I was bathing the girls (which I remembered that I needed to do after I had already gotten the girls in the jammies for the night...) Kirstie was almost done and she said as I was washing her off, "Dad, when you need me to wash you off I'll just do it for you, OK?" :-) Again... very cute.

There have been many cute moments like that this last week or so, and I am so thankful that though it's been super hard work (lack of sleep, lots of extra sickness, lots of extra visits, and just being behind already from the 3 days at the hospital) it's so totally worth it, and there are many fun/amazing moments with my kids that I am definitely blessed to have.

That said... there's not much time to do the stuff I'm wanting to do (or needing to do!) as is evidenced by a blog post at 1:00am :-)

Tomorrow we have a visit from some friends in the morning, and then in the afternoon we'll hopefully be getting our new van seat, which will allow us all to (legally) go somewhere as a family of seven! (Right now, our van only seats six.) :-) Oh, and then another friend will be bringing us dinner. Probably a good day for that!

At least we're not still sick! :-)

Oh, and Jen and Emma are doing great. Jen was feeling pretty bad at the end of last week (which is why I am still not back in my office officially) but feeling lots better now. Things are definitely progressing.

I may have to post some more Emma photos here pretty soon... Still working on the video, too. :-)

March Madness

I may have mentioned this in years past, but I must say... 18 March Madnesses ago, my friend Adam invited me to his house, and he invited Jen Walker. And that night, a friendship began that is still going strong, and only getting better. I sure love my Jen, and in a strange way, March Madness reminds me of that. :-)

The tourney is also fun when my team (Michigan State) advances. They did that today with a pretty easy win over #12 Temple. #4 Pittsburgh is next. Bring 'em on! :-)

Grateful For Washing Machines

It was not a good night in the Campbell house. Perhaps it even goes back most of a week now.

I think I told the story here of coming home with Emma. The night before we came home, our six year old Alex threw up eight times! He was better (mostly) by the time we got home, but we were certainly leery. Ian was next. That night he threw up just once, but it was gross... and it was on the bed I had just put new sheets on for him! :-)

Well, thankfully, we have a washing machine.

This week has seen its share of laundry loads. Normal loads, sick loads, many loads. We do have seven people in this house now. We also did a load or two of clothes for Jen and the new baby to wear, brought out from their cold, dark storage containers.

Well, last night was a doozy.

First, I fell asleep on the couch watching the hockey highlights from the night (seriously... they were almost over...) and was awoken by an angry Jen's voice, "Greg... Greg!... GREG!!" That's not pleasant. Nor is the reason she was calling me. First, she was hurting for some unknown reason, and Emma was not wanting to sleep, which made it worse. But the reason I was summoned? Julia had thrown up. Time for Dad to clean up!

I cleaned her up and was going to deal with the rest in the morning. Went straight to bed and Jen was in and out with Emma, and I noticed that my stomach really did not feel very good. I don't usually throw up, so I wasn't worried about that, but it was sort of difficult to go to sleep.

Within half an hour, Julia was back. She had thrown up again. This all started at 12:30am or so, and continued until I think 3:33am. Probably four or five times I went in, cleaned up the baby, and got new sheets, towels, blankets, sleeping bags... whatever I could find! Meanwhile, at about 2:30, I felt awful and spent some time in the bathroom myself. (Strangely, I did not throw up, but I thought I was going to... and when I "tried"... nothing happened but I felt amazingly better!)

Well after all of this, we have discovered that our tummy troubles are not gone... Julia, Kirsten, and Dad all have... ya know. The other side. Yeah. Not pretty.

I also came to find out that Jen slept downstairs much of the night, trying to get comfortable... didn't really sleep much at all. Still very sore, but also had the chills. :-( What's going on??!?!

Jen just left for the doctor - for the regular one week check up for her and baby. Should be interesting... :-)

I just finished cleaning up all the throw up covered clothing (I am very thankful for washing machines...) and doing the dishes from the night before so we could do the dishes from breakfast after I gave Julia a bath because she had gotten throw up in her hair after I folded the laundry I already had done yesterday to make room for the laundry I needed to do today and now the kids are done with breakfast and waiting for the next event of the day...

Did I mention that I am grateful for washing machines?

(Trying to keep a positive outlook here...) ;-)

Lucky Seven

Being that it's the last few moments of this year's St. Patrick's Day, I figured that was a fitting title. And really, it's very appropriate.

We are now a family of seven, and learning what that means day by day. Of course, our seventh member is not really contributing all that much these days. She has managed to bring quite an influx of visitors through our humble abode - something her dad very much appreciates - but other than that she's almost hard to notice! She's doing everything a 4-day-old person should be doing, and doing it quite well, thank you very much!

Mom is doing fantastically. Never been better following the birth of our babies. Seriously. On Sunday, we went out for a birthday lunch for my dad (since she was feeling up to it) and on the way there, we stopped at the Walmart Super Center for diapers and other things babies need. Well, if you've been to one of these gigantic establishments you know that there is a LOT of walking involved! And Jen walked it all! Pretty quickly!! Amazing! She could have never(in a million years!) done that following any of our other babies.

Superb.

So this morning, in addition to our lucky green shamrock-shaped pancakes, I was feeling quite lucky to be part of this great family that God continues to build and grow together. From my favorite person on the planet (Jen) to my next five favorites (Ian, Alex, Kirsten, Julia, and now Emma) I couldn't be luckier.

And I'm not even Irish. I'm Scottish. And a bit Welsh. Maybe some German. But I digress...

On top of that we have some great friends who helped when the baby was coming, and more who are dropping by to meet the baby and calling to check on us and share in our joy, and more still who will be bringing some meals this week and next.

Ya can't get any luckier. :-)

So on this day associated with luck, I just wanted to count - and publicly proclaim - my many blessings.

I'm one lucky dude.

Sickness Invades The Campbell Home

Jen (the pregnant one) has been sick (on top of the discomfort of pregnancy) over the past couple weeks with a few various ailments, but it didn't stay with her. Kirstie has been complaining of ear/head/neck pain off and on for almost a week now. This morning, Kirstie was still very lethargic, and her oldest brother Ian joined her in her illness-induced lethargy.

The sickness canceled our plans for today. Which were quite plentiful.

Well, the two other kids and myself were not feeling sick at all - in fact quite the opposite for the "evens" (kids #2 and #4...). They were quite loud, boisterous, and generally making life more miserable for their sick siblings.

I decided to take the healthies out to Wendy's where a group of friends generally gather every Sunday afternoon. Was even hoping to catch our nephew there who turned 20 today! (Yes... I am old...) :-) No luck there, but there were about 6 or 7 families represented, so it was definitely a nice visit for Dad who is a "people person." :-)

Untill...

Half way through our time there, Alex started showing signs of lethargy as well, and even ended up laying his head down on the table at one point. :-( He removed himself from the group (sat at a nearby table, not very like Alex with his friends) and just seemed to be getting exactly what everyone else had.

Scary thing? So did I.

As we were leaving, all of a sudden, my neck started aching, and I just felt very weird... maybe light-headed, but not that bad. Just tingly all over. Made it through that, enjoyed lunch, but felt a little strange all the way home. When we got home we put the new sickie in bed, and that's when it hit me.

COLD!!! I could not have been colder! I got under 6 or 7 blankets, all the way under, and turned the heat up! If you know me, you KNOW that something is wrong! :-) I really didn't feel lethargic, but still had an achy body all over, and had the chills som'n fierce!

So, I had some tea, put on my warmest sweatshirt, and took the rest of the day a bit easier.

Dinner was funny. I just reheated some leftovers for all the sickies (which is all but Julia!) and no one really wanted much of anything. :-) I still ate a decent amount, but definitely didn't taste right.

Right now, at a VERY early hour for me, I'm gonna down some NyQuil® and hit the sack! Might not wake up till 10 tomorrow! :-)

Here's hopin'!

Old

I made a quick trip to our grocery story tonight (the local IGA is about 1 mile from our house) to get some baking cocoa for some chocolate icing I was making for the chocolate cup cakes I had already made for my pregnant wife. :-) I really didn't want to go - too much other stuff to do before the kids' bedtime - but Jen really needed those cupcakes, and she really needed them to be chocolate.

So I went.

It was actually kind of peaceful. It had been a (mostly) day off full of kids, and I think that little bit of peacefulness was kind of enjoyable. :-) I found what I needed, and since what I needed was strewn across the store, I found a couple other good deals as well. It was a relaxing - yet fairly short - stroll through the market.

I was standing in the check out line when I saw a young guy - late teens, early twenties - come running up to his friends, although it was more like "bounding" than running. He came to a stop with one final leap. I smiled at his youthful energy.

Almost simultaneously, I chuckled at how old I must be. I had none of that vigor this night. I just felt very tired and worn out from the day. I was happy to just be standing there. "Am I that old??" I thought. Then just smiled, realizing that I probably am. :-)

I took solace in the fact that I do at times still have almost that much energy. I would say it has dwindled a tad (not to mention that I am definitely out of shape as well) but there are still many moments that I feel that level of energy.

But not tonight. And for some reason, it was just a humorous glimpse at how I am definitely no longer in my early twenties.

And you know... that's actually a really good thing. It's kinda nice being old. What will be really funny is when Jen & I have watched our kids grow up, and maybe even our grandkids, and as we're standing in line at the grocery store... maybe only able to walk very slowly... we'll see some youthful character bounding down the aisles, and we'll just laugh.

Maybe you are only as old as you feel. (Or is it, you feel as old as you are?) :-)

Can't Sleep

Not sure what it was about last night, but it was not our night to sleep :-)

First, we got our Mac Mini back from the Apple store (replacing a defective hard drive) and hooked it up right away, even used it. But then, not-so-smart, plays-with-too-many-settings Dad tinkered with the display resolution one too many times and the TV just started flickering. A LOT. Could barely see anything... couldn't find the cursor well enough to get it back to the right resolution. I tried everything, but to no avail.

So, since it was essentially a brand new drive with brand new settings - I reinstalled the OS. :-) (That takes a long time...)

As I was installing it, I watched a TV show I had downloaded from iTunes, and then put in Star Trek Insurrection which I had been wanting to watch for a long time.

The update was going along just fine, even downloaded all of the software updates from the internet once the original OS was on the disk. And all the while, Jen must have woken up a good three or four times. I had to go upstairs one time to find out why Alex was kicking the bar that keeps him from falling out of bed. Jen told me then that both boys had been talking and/or moaning in their sleep. Pretty funny.

I finally went to bed at 4am. (Later than usual...) and Jen was up again. Not long after that, the girls were needing help. I'm not sure if Julia did, but Kirstie wasn't feeling that great, so she came in a few times. Jen got her a drink around 7:15? and then I did around 7:30. At that point, Julia was awake as well.

I finally just got up and took a shower at 8:30, and Alex wandered in the bathroom somewhere around 8:50 or so. Everyone is sorta/kinda awake right now (which is early for everyone else) and I can't wait to see what kind of day we have... :-)

So... perhaps naps are in order, and an early bed time!

OH! Funniest part? Around 8am I did go back to sleep, only to dream that all six of us were in a tiny two room place ... NOT SLEEPING! It was 6am or so in my dream, and everyone was awake!! I was thinking - we all need to be sleeping!!! And Jen (in the dream) was just fine with everyone being awake.

I was awoken by Kirstie needing more help (around 8:30) and just had to chuckle. Dream was imitating reality, or vice versa.

I think we just need some sleep. :-)

Super Full (Super Fun!) Weekend

Whew! That's how we felt late last night when we went to bed. Well, Jen may have felt a little "Ughhh" as well, bring very pregnant and all. But MAN did we pack a lot in!

It all started on Saturday morning. I woke up a tad early for a Saturday (8ish) and got ready to head over to our friends' house for a big prepare-the-house-for-sale clean up day. Jen stayed home with the kids to get ready to send them off with her parents for the weekend. Originally was just going to be overnight, but they asked if they could keep them till Monday. We thought it was a good idea, too. ;-)

From 9:30 till around 12:30pm I cleaned, fixed, moved, and more at our friends' house until Jen was dropped off there by her parents, who were on their way back home to Buffalo with our kids. I came out and said good bye to the kids, and then with a "second shift" of help arriving right about that same time, decided to pack up and get on to some other stuff for the day with Jen.

We got home and had a nice quiet lunch. No kids!! Then got to working on doing our taxes. Did that for a couple hours, while I baked bread for a party we were going to later that night. Once the bread was ready, we packed up and headed out.

It was a surprise 40th birthday party - for a friend who would not be described as a "people person" really - and it was about a 40-minute drive to somewhere we'd never been. But again... we had no kids, so all was well. :-) We stopped by the house where the cleaning party had been to deliver something they needed, and to see the progress. Very nice! Got to see another friend there whom we had not seen in quite a while, too. So, a nice - yet very short - visit there, and we were on to the party.

We were on time... until we got to where we were going. Unbeknownst to us, shortly before this weekend, the road sign (along with a light pole and a power line pole) had been taken out by a rogue milk truck! So, we drove at least 5 miles past where we were supposed to turn, going past the next little village. From what we saw on Google Maps, that could not possibly be right. We didn't have their phone number, but knew that it just couldn't be right. Already a bit late - and needing to not be since it was a surprise party!! - we turned around and hoped we could see their road a second time.

With eagle eyes we scanned the side of the road where our turn was supposed to be. Nothing. We had seen all of these roads before, and for the second time, none were the road we needed. We did find one road that was definitely NOT labeled, but being in a time crunch, I was not going to drive down an unmarked road! We found a gas station not far from there and found out that our unmarked road was indeed the one we wanted, so finally - just about 15 minutes later than we were supposed to be there - we arrived at our destination.

Oh, and I forgot. On the way there, we were traveling down a very rural, country road... just having a nice conversation, enjoying the music on the iPod, when I caught a glimpse of some shadows directly ahead of us. FOUR DEER crossing the road... and more coming. No way we were NOT going to hit them. I just asked God to make it not too bad!

I guess he did. :-)

I hit the brakes (not too hard as it was snowing, and skidding would be equally as bad) and three deer managed to cross to our left and "magically" one deer just stopped and created a gap for us to drive through. Don't know if there were more behind that one deer, but glad for him stopping - or perhaps an angel standing in his way? However it happened, we were thankful for safe passage.

The rest of the evening was fun. Besides two couples, we didn't really know many of the people there very well. But we were welcomed in their circle (they kind of knew us from our days leading worship at Crosswinds) and had a great evening. We introduced them to Dutch Blitz. Super fun card game! And ate lots of good food, and had lots of fun. Our "not a people person" friend also was quite surprised and seem to really enjoy it. We got to have a few good conversations throughout the night about life with the church as well. Several are in a similar place with all that as we are. Good to think it out together.

We didn't leave till 11:30 that night - which was so nice! Didn't have to worry about getting home for the baby sitter! We did go to bed rather exhausted though! Super fun day.

But the weekend wasn't over!!

Sunday we woke up on our own - NO KIDS WAKING US UP! - and I said to Jen at around 10am or so, "I'm taking you out for breakfast!" So we got up and ready to go in like 10 minutes! Ha! So funny to parents of four young kids. :-)

The funny part of the breakfast plan was that we were headed to Victor (a nearby town) and we also had an appointment there at 5:30pm. (We also had plans to have lunch with some friends there around 1:30 or so.) So, really, we were heading out for most of the day! But again, we had no kids!!! So we were very much looking forward to it! :-)

As we left the house, I said, "Oh cool, it's snowing!" A nice light dusting was on the ground, and some nice fluffy lake effect snow was softly falling. It was pretty cold, and supposed to get colder - and very windy - but for now, wasn't too bad. We headed down the road toward our destination, and decided to take the Thruway (the main interstate highway) to get there a bit more directly, and quickly.

The snow kept getting a little worse, but still not too bad on the roads. I was glad we left when we did. For about two more minutes. :-)

Not long after getting on the Thruway, we found it more and more difficult to see, with much more accumulation on the roads. I ended up needing to follow the tracks from the car(s) who went before me. As a small truck tried to pass us on the left, I began to feel the vehicle losing traction, and shimmy a bit. So I slowed down for the truck to pass and realized that I couldn't really see very far in front of us. Not far at all. Within another minute or two, I really couldn't!. It was a HUGE white out! Seriously couldn't see five seconds in front of us, so we slowed way down, hoping to not be hit from behind.

Thankfully I happened to catch a glimpse of the green highway exit sign as we passed (surprised I could see it that far away!) and decided to exit. With a large semi behind us, I just signaled and HOPED I was getting off on the exit! Could NOT see it!!! Slowed to almost a stop and found the road. (Quite glad for those reflectors for the snow plows!) We slowly approached the toll booth and literally could see nothing. NOTHING. Finally, once we were about 50 feet from the toll plaza, we saw the flashing yellow light. I tried to center the van under the light (so we could go through the toll booth) and we made it through... but then couldn't see the road on the other side!! :-)

We practically inched ahead for a while till I saw a McDonald's sign on the right. I said to Jen, "How about McDonald's instead??" :-) She agreed, and I pulled in where I THOUGHT the road was!! Still couldn't see it! Finally got into a parking spot and went in and enjoyed some breakfast. CRAZY snow!!!

The snow died down rather quickly. Was a super fast white out. I was thankful later that we were again granted safe passage. It did not turn out as well for many to the west of us in Rochester. A multi-car pile up resulted from the same white outs, and killed one girl, and injured a bunch more. So we were grateful to be safely eating breakfast at McDonald's.

From there, here's the rest of the day...

We went to the 11:15am service at Willowbrook to see friends and family, then joined some of them for lunch at Wendy's shortly after that. Not having kids, we just enjoyed a nice leisurely lunch and chat with the two families there. Good times! Then, with three hours to "kill" we headed up to the mall to do a few things we needed to before my 5:30pm appointment at the Apple store.

First, we just SAT and talked. :-) There's a nice sitting area at the front/center of the mall. So, we just sat and talked :-) (MAN! Pretending you don't have kids is FUN!) :-) After a bit of that we went to a store to look for jeans for me, but were unsuccessful. But, while we were there we checked out the couches. Ours are about 22 years old, and probably nearing the end of their life... :-)

After that we headed over to Sears to pick up Ian's 9th birthday photos. Since Friendly's is right there - and Jen seemed to need a break - we stopped to get some ice cream. :-) Again. Even more fun without kids. :-)

When we were done with our ice cream it was almost time for my Apple store appointment, so we headed that way and thanks to me knowing most of the people there, I got in about 20 minutes earlier than my appointment. That went very quickly which was good. (And, I did get to play with the new MacBook Air a bit... so it was a fun visit, too!) Having finished a very full day out, we decided to head home.

On our way home however, I remembered that Jen's brother had said we could maybe get together with them after 8pm... so we called and confirmed and made plans to head BACK to Victor around eight that night. :-)

We got home at 6:30... Jen crashed. I ate dinner.. then crashed while watching the TiVo delayed Pro Bowl. We both woke up after a nap - somewhat refreshed - and ready for more! (OK, I needed aspirin to be ready... but, after that, I was ready!) We headed out at about 8:30, and ended up chatting with Jen's bro and his wife till midnight! We swapped photos and stories from our trips the past fall (hadn't gotten to do that yet!) and just had a nice, kid-less time.

I finished the Pro Bowl after we got home - AFC lost :-( - and even watched another show, and finally got to bed around 3am!

CRAZY SUPER FUN WEEKEND!

Tonight, Grandma & Grandpa are bringing the kids back, and I can't wait to see them. But getting a couple days without them is definitely a very good, enjoyable thing. :-)

Luck

Last night Jen and I played a new card game called Tunge. (Not sure how you pronounce it.) She discovered it on a blog she reads and wanted to play it with me. I'm always game for a new ... game. :-)

So, we figured it out pretty easily and had a good time playing. Mostly. That is until I noticed that this game - as with many card games - is almost entirely won by luck. You just have to get the right card. "By the luck of the draw." Those aren't my favorite kind of games. I like knowing that I won (and you lost) because of my skill and cunning and craftiness.

:-)

But what all that reminded me of was my Buffalo Sabres.

See, this year, the Sabres - who last year finished the season with the best overall record - are not doing as well. At a quick glance, you might even think they were bad. I don't remember if they were ever officially last in their conference... but they were at least second to last. (That in itself is deceiving as they were still only 6 or 8 points or so out of a playoff spot.) Most people do assume that the Sabres are just a shell of their former selves, losing their two captains from last seaons, Chris Drury and Daniel Briere.

It's true that they miss the leadership and production of those two guys, but it's not true that they are as bad as their record would indicate. Hockey is certainly a game of skill, on many levels. But it also involves a good bit of luck.

The bounces have not gone the Sabres' way this year. They have outshot teams many a night, and come up losing by a goal. The goalie has made incredible save after incredible save, only to have a puck bounce off the boards behind him and either into the net, or right to the lucky opponent standing near the crease to cash in. Goal posts have rung, goals have been disallowed, injury after injury after injury have plagued this once-feared team.

We do not have cable this year, and so have only kept up with the team via radio (over the internet) and reading at sabres.com and NHL.com. We have also caught the occasional Sabres game on Versus.com. But from everything I have seen, this team is still very good. Very young, but very good.

I try and catch the post game interview with Lindy Ruff after every game. (Subscribe to the podcast at iTunes.) I like to hear what he's got to say. He's seen this team be the best, and now struggle through a year of seeming mediocrity. When things are bad, he says it. This year he has not said it. Almost every night he has nothing but positive things to say about the players and their effort and the chances they have created. He usually says something like, "It just didn't bounce our way." That has been my observation as well. The Sabres have just as much fight in them, just as much skill (though, more injuries to be sure) but they do not have as much "success".

It will come. Luck works both ways. At least over the course of a whole season. The Sabres are coming out of a horrendous stretch of two wins in fourteen games. They have won three games in a row, looking for four tonight in Atlanta, where they play a Thrasher team that is tied with them in the conference standings.

Perhaps this small streak is the beginning of things starting to go our way. Maybe the Sabres will be on the more fortunate end of bounces, calls, injuries, etc.

If we're lucky... ;-)

This Day in (GregHead.net) History

An idea popped into my head today. (Yes, that would be GregsHead...) I thought, I wonder what things I have blogged about on this day in my four-plus years of blogging? So, I set out to discover what was in the archives for January 25th.

To my suprise, excluding entries from this January 25th (today) there was only one other entry. And it was about my Jen. :-)

I did also discover that there were a few cool things from January 24th here at GregsHead.net. At the top of the list would have to be 1/24/04... that's the birthday of the new blog with the oft-mentioned URL --- GregsHead.net! January 24th is not the beginning of my blogging, but the birthday of GregsHead.net. Neat.

Besides that I found a couple interesting posts worth re-reading from that same year. Well, at least one is. One is just interesting in light of the Super Bowl match up coming up in a week and a couple days. (I wasn't happy about it then, either...)

The one I'd love for you to re-read though is the one titled, "I Call You Friends." Very neat reminder of our relationship with God.

So, take a trip with me... back in time...

I Call You Friends
A Winning Attitude?

Caught In A Snow Storm!

Last night I took our four kids up to the library to return some books, and to pick up a few new ones. The library is only half-way around the block, so we bundled up for a nice winter walk. It was even lightly snowing, so it was more fun than usual!

We even sang a song on the way there:

"Going for a walk in the snow to the library,
Going for a walk in the snow
Going for a walk in the snow to the library,
Going for a walk in the snow!"

It was perfect, and the kids did pretty well in the library. We got the books we wanted, and some stamps from the nice librarian. We bundled back up and headed out the door.

What we discovered was astonishing.

Swirling, blowing, blinding SNOW! Where did this come from?!? I just laughed! It was like a joke! What happened to our light flurries??? Well, we had no other way home, so I made sure faces were as covered as they could be and we set out into the storm.

And this was a storm! The wind was a constant 10-15 mph I'd guess, with stronger gusts. And the snow was collecting on the ground - and on us! - at an alarming rate. The worst part was, a third of our trip was heading west, directly into the wind! At one point during that stretch I turned around and pulled Julia in the stroller backwards (which helped a lot I think) and saw poor little Kirstie just closing her eyes and leaning into the wind as she pressed ahead into the blizzard!

It was crazy!!

Once we were able to turn south, and find a bit of shelter behind a giant brick church building, it got a little better. We laughed all the way home through the still rapidly falling snow.

Red cheeks, faces, and other exposed skin greeted Mom when we got home. Mom actually met us in the driveway, as she had seen the fierce winter storm and was coming to get us. But we managed to brave the elements and make it back home safely.

I told the kids as we were fighting the storm that we'd have hot cocoa and hot baths when we got home! And we'd also read a couple of the library books we just worked so hard to get.

And we did. :-)

My Day (or two) As A Mom

I think I have written here before that when Jen has babies, I take a week or, last time, two off to take care of the other kids while she can focus completely on the baby. And of course, I take care of her too. :-) So, I am no stranger to being the "Mom" of the family. (Plus, I am the main chef of the household - by my own choice and desire - and often am accused of being the "girl" in our marriage ... so... I am kind of used to it. Kind of.)

Well today, due to extenuating circumstances, I offered to help out our good friends, the Velasquezes, by watching their three girls at their house while they went to a wedding. Their oldest had been really pretty sick yesterday... lots of throwing up... but mostly that kind of sickness has not affected me in life, so I figured I would be pretty OK, and it would help them out.

The day was to start at 9:45, but I did get there a little late. Just before ten I got there and got the scoop. They hadn't had breakfast so we did a little of that. Then once Mom & Dad left, we got into the fun. We watched an episode of the Knight Rider! (Yes, that instantly makes me the best babysitter ever. I carry episodes of the Knight Rider in my POCKET!)

No one was sick, thankfully, but it was a day full of being a Mom. :-) We had hurt feelings, we had sibling spats, we had ouchies - even needed ice for one! - and all of that fun. Of course I needed to make lunch, which was awesome! :-) We had diaper changes, bathroom reminders, and kitchen clean up. We also played games, and even had a nap time routine. I was quite the mom.

The real Mom & Dad returned around 4pm, and after a brief report, I headed out to do some returns and other shopping near the mall (more Mom stuff?) and then stopped by Wal-Mart for another quick surprise for the family. Finally got home - fairly exhausted - just after 6pm. Of course, Jen had our FOUR kids all this time, so she certainly had no picnic of a day! But after a few brief moments catching up with Jen... I realized that I had to make dinner for my family! Sheesh!

So, I did. I just reheated the big turkey dinner we had the night before, and it was great. But I was still tired. And I really just wanted to sit and watch football. But the kids were not really cooperating. And Jen was really worn out too. After giving it a go for most of the first half of the game mentioned just below... I finally gave up and just got the girls and got them ready for bed, and in bed.

The boys followed not long after, but Jen was able to help with them. I spent the rest of the evening cleaning up the kitchen from the last day or two and baking corn bread and cupcakes for tomorrow's gathering. Then I called some good friends who live in California around midnight (9pm their time...) :-) just to catch up. Had a nice chat there.

Why am I telling you all of this?

Well... I'd like to salute Moms out there. My wife first. Maybe my own Mom second. (Sorry, Mom.. Jen has four... and another coming!) I really am able to do the "mom thing" ... but my experience today (and some of yesterday) left me exhausted and feeling unappreciated. :-) (Not really... just bear with me...)

I really noticed that all of the "mom" stuff I did or was doing was sort of just expected. There's never an end to the needs of your kids. They don't take vacations, or weekends off. And, even when I was off taking care of other kids for a day... I came home to more. (Ours are way cuter, of course...) ;-) And they just assumed I would be making dinner as I usually do. (Plus, Mom is super tired from making a baby!)

A Mom's job is never done, and almost always taken for granted. So to Jen, Mom, and all other Moms reading this... you rock. Keep up the hard work. You can't see it paying off now, but those kids you are loving - thanklessly - will remember it later.

And to my Mom ... thanks for all the hard work. :-)

See? :-)

So... I'll continue to keep up my end of the parenting duties, and maybe remember to remind Jen how awesome she is even just a bit more often. :-)

And, since it's Steven Curtis Chapman week here at GregsHead.net ... when you get a chance (no time to find a link tonight...) check out the song from his latest album, This Moment - "One Heartbeat at a Time". Perfect song for Moms.

And now... at 1:29... I can finally go to bed.

Good night!

Christmas Report

Do you remember Christmas days gone by when, as a youngster, you couldn't wait to see your friends or maybe your cousins - whoever would listen! - so you could tell them what you got for Christmas? Well, I do. But I don't think that I really got to tell anyone that yesterday, so I'm going to write it down here!

I am drinking some tea this morning from a nice new mug I got from Santa. My wife got me a Buffalo Bills book that so far is quite good, and we also have mountains of great Christmas candy! (Mostly chocolate!) I also got some nice winter gloves (mine have holes ... no... they ARE holes!) and a few cans of tomato soup! :-) (Yes... I've been wanting some of that...) :-)

It was a fun day. Lots of smiles, and even a bunch of useful stuff. Fun to give, and to receive. And the best part is that Jen actually bought almost everything using money from sales of other stuff on CraigsList, ebay, and Amazon.com. :-) Nice!

Oh! Maybe the best present of all was one that was hand-crafted by Ian! He worked long and hard to build an iMac for me! it's awesome! I'll have to post a photo :-) Even came with a wireless keyboard AND an iPod! :-) He spent many days building it for me at my workbench in the basement. (I think that Ian has now worked there more than I have....) ;-)

Hope you had a fun day as well. Feel free to share your favorite gifts in the comments below. :-)

Tape Delay

So, you just gotta love TiVo. It's so easy. You watch what you want, when you want to (or can) and you can even fast-forward the commercials!

I love hockey! Versus carries at least one NHL game on Monday and Tuesday nights. I'm busy every Monday night, and somehow we are usually busy on Tuesday nights, so I have gotten in the habit of TiVo-ing them.

Well, tonight after recording the show, I picked up where I had left off when I went up to the office to record. Thing is, Jen was there, too. And, while I like hockey... I like talking with my wife more. So, we did.

At one point I finally noticed that the hockey game I had recorded was playing in the background while we chatted and snacked.

Do you find that odd too? Who records something in order to not pay attention to it? :-)

10th Anniversary Vacation Photos

Yes folks, we had a blast. And now we are back home taking care of our four kids, and last weekend, we kept our friends' three girls for three days to boot! So, I haven't gotten to sit down and share some of the highlights of our trip with you. We haven't even gotten to post the photos we wish we could just yet. So, for now, here are the links to the albums I have posted on Facebook. So far.

PHOTOS
Self-Portraits
Sunset on the Coast
Marine Wildlife
Apple-Related Photos

More to come! :-)

Fisherman's Wharf - Monterey Style

Tonight we decided to go for a walk down Fisherman's Wharf in downtown Monterey. It's only about a 10 minute drive from our place. Lots of little shops, and lots of FOOD (which we needed NONE of!) and, lots of SEALS.

Seriously. Lots of seals. Making lots of noise. There were also otters, sea gulls, pelicans, and a few other random animals. I guess they like it there. :-) We just stayed and watched them for a while... I couldn't believe how much noise they were making!!

We strolled the wharf for a while after watching the live National Geographic episode. There were lots of little souvenir shops, so we went through their aisles, finding all sorts of treasures our kids would like. We picked up a few, but decided to be a bit more selective. We'll probably come back for a few more, but we'll shop around a bit first.

There were also free samples from several of the little restaurants. That was interesting. We tried a nice little clam chowder one, and then we got a dessert sample from a little candy shop. Pretty neat place. :-)

It really was a nice birthday for Jen. I'm glad I got so spend all of it with her.

We came back home around 8pm or so and caught the end of the World Series. Jen fell asleep though, not too long after we started watching, and missed the last few innings. :-) She woke up for the bottom of the ninth.

Can't believe we still have most of a week left! More fun to come tomorrow!

A Lunch Meeting, And The Bills Won

We headed out the door at 12:45pm, knowing that Character's Sports Bar was not too far from where we were staying. I had seen on the map where we needed to go, and was confident we could find it.

That confidence was misplaced.

When we got to where I thought we needed to turn, the road that was supposed to be there was not!. I improvised, and ended up in a maze of one-way city streets, going in circles. Argh. It wasn't really a problem, except that we did not want to be late for kickoff.

Well, we finally found the place, and in time for kickoff, but then found out that the parking spaces out front were 24-minute parking spaces. Off we went to find a parking garage two blocks away. Double argh.

That's when we met him.

As we were walking out of the garage, in a bit of a hurry to get back to the Bills game that was now two blocks away, we passed a man sitting on the cement planter next to us. When we passed he said, "Can you guys help me out? I'm kinda hungry. I just need some food." I was intrigued by the request (he didn't ask for money, that I remember) and so I said, very spontaneously, "Well, we're headed up to a sports bar right now?" As I said it, I sorta invited him by gesturing.

To my surprise, he got up, and sort of gestured back, making sure I meant it, and I did. So, he followed us up to the restaurant.

We got to know Darren as we went. First names, then where he was from, and how he got to Monterey, CA. We sat down at a table and continued to talk. We don't have a lot of money, but we had saved some up for a little splurging for our 10th anniversary trip—and we got to share some with a homeless man named Darren.

He has a sad story of lots of broken family relationships. He has slight learning disabilities, and told us a crazy story about waiting for five years for social security benefits or something. Not sure the details, really, but I could tell what we have that he doesn't are the generous and loving family relationships, as well as close friends.

He stayed for the meal, and then thanked us again and took off. Not exactly how we had planned to spend lunch watching the Bills, but we were glad we could share.

The rest of the afternoon was a bit quieter (except for a rowdy table behind us) with only the occasional outburst from me and/or Jen when the Bills did something good. (It wasn't that often, so it really was kind of quiet.) :-)

The Bills did win, so that was awesome! JP Losman got into the game due to an injury to Trent Edwards. That should make for some crazy off-the-field drama this week. That's pretty annoying, but, that's just how it is.

We came back to our place and listened to the Bills post-game interviews, and got to talk with our kids (about the Bills game and more!) and then headed out for the rest of the afternoon/evening at the Fisherman's Wharf back in Monterey.

You never know what's going to happen when you head out the door. Today, we got to see the Bills win (as we hoped) and we also got to share a meal with Darren.

Very cool.

Morning Football??

This morning we slept in a bit later. Remember yesterday? Our first day on Pacific Daylight Time? Today instead of getting up at 6:30, we managed to sleep till about 7:15. :-)

We did try to just relax in bed for a while, but that didn't work. Instead, since it was Jen's birthday, I offered to bring her breakfast in bed. She accepted.

Breakfast consisted of a bowl of raisin bran, some orange/mango juice, a piece of toast, and a couple giant slices of a California navel orange. We looked for some NFL football pre-game stuff while we ate. (I had some tea in my new Apple mug as well...) :-)

It was really weird watching NFL football at 10am. Especially after waking up at 7am. :-)

(We're definitely still adjusting to the time zone...)

It was also very strange to watch football games without eating lunch or some afternoon snack. I mean... you gotta eat when there's football on, right?? We did not. We watched the two games that were on out here (the Miami/NYGiants game that was live from London, England, and the Oakland/Tennessee game) and then reheated last night's pizza for an early lunch at 11:30am.

Jen got some calls from family for her birthday, and we had a nice leisurely morning, getting ready to head out to catch the Bills game at a local sports bar.

It was a nice, relaxing, birthday morning. :-)

My Jen

Today is my Jen's birthday. I have known her for more than half of her life now. I have never loved her more.

I love that this birthday came during an entire week of life devoted to just being together. We are out here, 3000 miles from our life, just enjoying each other, and some of the things we like to do together. She is more relaxed than she has been in a long time, and it's been fun to celebrate her not just for today, but really for this entire eight day vacation!

She is more special to me than I can possibly put into words. I am so grateful to God for the gift he has given me in her. We certainly are very different people, but there is no one I love more or would rather share my life with. I trust her with me, and I'm pretty sure that's mutual.

Today she is one year older. One more year that we have lived together. I am thankful for what we have already shared, and looking forward to all that we have remaining.

Hopefully I'll get to celebrate birthday #66 and #99 with Jen. Maybe even #133? :-)

I love you, Jen. Happy birthday. :-)

Pacific Ocean

We took a stroll up to the Pacific Ocean tonight. It's only a few blocks from our house. (Although I think that beach is technically Monterey Bay, it's close enough!) There's a beach called "Lover's Point" at the end of our road. I thought that was rather appropriate for our 10th anniversary trip. :-)

It was a beautiful view, and nice to just leisurely walk to, around, and back from the waterfront. We saw some seals on the rocks near the beach. Lots of maritime birds. (Seagulls, pelicans, etc.) And I saw a pretty amazing starfish, too. (Of course, whenever we get the cable for our camera, I'll be posting some of these photos!!)

After walking to Lover's Point, we drove less than a mile to the edge of the Monterey peninsula to see the sunset on the Pacific Ocean. It was getting pretty chilly at this point, so we sat on a bench overlooking the rocky Pacific for maybe 10 minutes or so, but then we got back inside our vehicle and watched from there. :-) I got lots of photos, a few of them are pretty cool (I hope!) with the big waves crashing against the rocks. Another amazing view.

After the beach, we were going to go back home but decided to go check out the Goodwill we had seen yesterday. We found a couple books and a nice Wheaton College t-shirt (where our niece is in her senior year). The Goodwill is in the center of Pacific Grove's business district, so we walked around a bit afterward and decided to get dinner at Papa John's pizza while we were there. Lots of interesting ethnic restaurants in this town. (And yes, we decided on Papa John's...) :-)

Following a really nice, quiet dinner together, we headed back to our vacation home and played a few rounds of Boggle before Jen retired for the evening. I'm doing a bit better getting on PDT I think... :-)

Oh, I forgot to mention our morning. We did head out to get groceries, which was fun. Found a place called Save Mart or something like that. It was a pretty cool grocery store. Funniest part was when one of the workers said, "Good morning" when passing by us, and both Jen and I thought, "It's not morning!!" But in fact it was well before 10:30am! We were still adjusting then for sure!!

We had a great lunch after we got back, and then Jen took a quick nap while I went to the coffee house around the corner and read some blogs while I sipped on a chai! Very nice.

Tomorrow is Jen's birthday! We're going to watch NFL football at 10am!! ha! And then we'll head out to a sports bar to watch the Bills/Jets game... followed by a trip back to San Jose to eat at Red Robin for her birthday! Should be a super fun day!

We are having such a great time! We miss our kids. Lots of things remind us of them. But this is just fantastic. Such a nice break for both of us, and we're thoroughly enjoying each other's company. Fantastic. :-)

More to come!!

PDT

So, we're three hours behind out here, did you know that? Cause... I do.

Last night we went to bed at 9:21pm... exhausted! And then, due to me using the decorative pillow instead of the real one most of the night, I kept waking up thinking it was time to be up. It wasn't. I really thought it was at one point, and I looked at the clock (which is on Pacific Daylight Time - PDT) and um, it was 3:35am. :-)

The next time I looked it was 3:55.

Not a great night of sleep. :-)

THEN, Jen and I woke up together at 6:30 or so! Ha! (If you know us... that's not our normal time of day...) :-) It was really, REALLY nice to just wake up though, and not have kids doing that for us. Or have to get up and get them breakfast.

We watched an episode of Monk at like 7am, when we just gave up on the idea of sleeping to a decent hour. Now we're getting ready to go get some groceries and some breakfast. We have a nice view of the Pacific ocean out our bedroom windows, too. Very nice!

More to come...

Like Magic

We’re making our final approach (at least, pretty soon... I can feel us going lower) and even from the middle seat, the view is breathtaking. The mountains are amazing. Even the deserts are pretty amazing.

What I am most amazed by though is, having done this trip several times before on the ground, the fact that we can leave Buffalo at 8:30am and arrive in California around 3:00pm (EDT). The trip from Seattle to Rochester always takes us 5 days. Today, we did basically the same trip in just over 6 hours.

Incredible. Like magic.

Southwest Alphabet

Well, we made the next leg of the trip, but it feels like barely! We got to Chicago just after 9:15 maybe, local time, and had to get the flight to San Jose, CA at 9:55 local time. Seems like plenty of time right? Jen took a needed pregnancy bathroomo trip, and we headed through the airport to Gate B1 (all the way to the other end of the concourse!) only to find tthat the lines were already completely full!

This is my first time flying Southwest, and overall I would just give it an “average” rating.

Here’s why the lines matter. When you buy a ticket, you are not buying a seat. You get put into one of three groups. A, B, and C. Theoretically, the first people to arrive, get boarding passes in group A, then B, then C. That is also how they board the plane. Since it’s every man (or woman) for himself, you take what you get as far as seating.

We lucked out on the first flight, finding the last pair of seats together. Not so on this flight. Only middle seats left. Not to worry, I told Jen. I trusted in the goodness of humanity. Someone will move to the middle so that the pregnant lady can sit with her husband....

Not so. :-)

So, Jen is in the row behind me. I am squeezed between two guys... and it’s a four hour flight.

I don’t think we’re going to fly Southwest again. I want to buy seats, not try to “get lucky”.

So, we’ll see what the flight holds. I’m sad for Jen. She’ll have to try to get out to go to the bathroom a time or two! :-) We’ll see if we can work the system on the way back so we don’t have to do this on the return flight!

More to come....

And So It Begins

The alarm sounded at 5:30 this morning. But I think that was about the 20th time I had awaken since going to bed at 11:30 the night before. I think my mind had been active all night. I feel... tired.

But ready to go.

Our plane leaves at 8, so we're heading out in a few minutes. There is an overall feeling of excitement. I really can't even believe we get to do this!

However, I must admit, last night it felt wrong. As I was saying goodnight—and goodbye—to my kids, my heart was heavy. I'm not supposed to say goodbye to them for eight days??? It will be fine, but I told Jen last night, "I don't want to do this ever again." (And we haven't even left yet!!)

It'll be alright. I can't wait to have my wife to myself for 8 days.

More along the way...

This Time Tomorrow...

So, it's really here. For months—maybe even years?—we've waited for this day, this trip. We're packing stuff up now, getting the house ready to leave. The kids are ready for their vacation, too. A whole 8 days at Grandma & Grandpa's!!

And for us? Eight beautiful days at a resort on the Pacific Ocean near Monterey, CA... without our kids!

Now THAT'S an anniversary present! :-)

We leave Buffalo tomorrow at 8am local time, and get to the San Jose airport around 12:30 local time. We'll find our rental car and drive about an hour or so to the coast. After checking in, and checking out our place, getting settled, etc... we'll head BACK to SJ for the evening to get some dinner, and get a copy of LEOPARD at the local Apple Store! :-) (First 500 people at the store get free t-shirts! We're so there!)

We'll just be spending time together, celebrating 10 years of marriage, and just enjoying each other's company. Walks on the beach, walks through town, nice dinners... QUIET days. :-) Can't wait. Really can't wait.

I may post some here during the week, or I may not. :-) Depends on what Jen is doing. This week, I'm totally with her, and I don't want to miss any of that!

I will definitely miss our kids. I can tell already. But I can't wait to have 8 uninterrupted days with my wife. I love her more now than ever before (which was already a lot!) and can't wait to just be with her!

(Can you tell?) :-)

We will also get to visit with some friends from college who live out that way, so that will be a huge bonus, too.

And it all starts very, VERY soon! So...

Gotta go! :-)