In Transit Until August 26, 2008

Fenway Park, August 14, 2008

We have been in Massachusetts visiting our family and friends until we leave for Germany. So far the theme of the trip has been "Celebration" as in birthdays both old and new, weddings and lots of new babies. Brad has celebrated his birthday at least 3 times now and he is loving it. We have amassed an enormous collection of new toys and clothes and things that have been relegated to the attic, only to be stuffed in shipping boxes and sent over to Germany where we will entertain ourselves with their contents until our household goods arrive, hopefully no later than October 1. These pictures are of several family parties. It means so much to have finally brought all of the kids together...

Cousins Michael, Stephen, Stacy, Danielle, Amanda & Alyssa

Great Grandkids Mekenzie, Maryna, Gabriella, Rhiannon, Joey, Tanner & Brad

Celebrating Grammy Dulski's 80th Birthday



Lovin the Slip n' Slide


Cousin Dennis and His New Baby Brody


Birthday Cousins Jayden and Brad


Jim's Sister Ianne and her Son Trent

We took in a Red Sox game and of course they won. We had bleacher seats so we couldn't see very well but we enjoyed some Fenway Franks and libations. I tried to negotiate with the foam finger man for a lower price but he wouldn't budge, so we didn't get one. It was a great feeling for me to be on Yawkey Way in the middle of a crowd of fans in my favorite city, to be truly home for a little while. I will miss this place.

My Sister, Dad and Hubs Enjoying the Sox Game

We also spent a gorgeous day in the city, riding the Swan Boats and having lunch at my mom's work. I love the architecture of Boston and tried to take a few pictures to remember how beautiful it now looks after the Big Dig has hidden many of the old roads underground and built parks and flower lined walkways through the streets of the Financial District heading toward Faneuil Hall. The aerial shots are of South Boston where I used to live before I met Jim.

Swan Boat with John Hancock in Background

Rhi at the Make Way for Ducklings Statue

"Southie"

The View Walking Along the New Greenway

The last leg of our trip was up in Castine, Maine. It's about an hour east of Augusta to give you an idea. We went to visit my cousins Jane and Pat who had come to see us in Florida. It is incredibly beautiful up there. I went kayaking for the first time and I didn't flip my boat. I was a little nervous that I would so I didn't even take the camera with me. Brad hated it and Rhiannon fell asleep in the boat. After kayaking we had drinks on the dock and took some pictures of the kids in a ski lift. We mostly sat around the fire pit in their enormous yard, made smores, hiked, and relaxed. We were also fortunate to have lunch with old Iceland friends who are stationed in Maine and got to meet their new baby. After an exhausting two weeks at home, it was the perfect end to our long journey in the US en route to Europe.

Jane and Pat's House

Kids in a Ski Lift

The Kids with Pat Gathering Wood for the Fire

Making Smores


Rhiannon Leading our Hike


Views Atop the Hill

The Family with Cousin Pat


Rhiannon Picking Blueberries

That just about wraps up our time in New England. We fly out tomorrow and are so ready to go. Rhiannon starts school Thursday and we are excited to start looking for a house. We'll post again once we get settled in and hopefully we won't be without internet access for too long. You can still reach us at our hotmail accounts and we will send along our new contact information soon. Thanks to everyone for making our trip home so enjoyable. It will be a long time before we get back up this way...and anyone who wants to come visit us in Germany, we'll be waiting for you!

July 26, 2008

Happy 2nd Birthday Brad!

I can't believe my baby is two. My body doesn't seem to want to recognize that fact either! He's fascinated with lights and he always wants me to put on his shoes. I remember like it was yesterday the first night in the hospital with him; they had lost power and I watched the heat lightning from my window. We had his two year check up and he is finally on the charts in the 25%. He weighs 26.4 lbs and is 33.25 inches tall and has approximately 25 words.






Brad picked up a dead roach the other day from the porch. I turned around and saw him holding it and I freaked out yelling "NO!" He got so scared that he threw it and started crying and ran over to me and clung to my leg. Oops, maybe I shouldn't have reacted so outlandishly but it was so funny to see that. I wouldn't even pick up a roach with gloves on. It gives me the willies.

Rhiannon got a new booster seat for use during our travels. It is much lighter and easier to carry around than the beastly Britax and she was so excited to get it. I had to explain to her that as soon as we get our stuff back in Germany she needs to go back in the big seat because it has more buckles and is a safer way to travel. I hope the novelty has worn off by then and she doesn't give me a hard time about it, but right now she is calling the old one a baby seat and now she is in a big girl seat. The first night we used it, coming back from our friend's house, I almost missed my street so I hit the brakes a little hard and from the back seat I hear, "Mom be careful, I'm in a booster seat and it's not tight!"


Tonight I was explaining to her how my mom is her grandma and she asked if I was a grandma and I told her not until she grows up and gets married and has her own baby. She said, "You know mom, I've been looking at boys a lot." I burst out laughing and asked her what kind of boys. She said, "handsome ones." I can't get over this child...

As we get ready to move yet again, and I sort out what's important in our lives from what can be given or thrown away I have had lots of time to discover anew and reflect on the many special pieces of paper that can collect in random piles but hold the key to what defines us as people. It is amazing where I have stored such items, only to be gone through later almost as an afterthought. I have found old concert tickets, one of my first designs to be printed, plane tickets and hotel receipts, cards from a loved one who is no longer with us, a first mother's day card, calendars with special trips long ago taken, the tarot cards I have forgotten how to read, pictures taken a lifetime ago but in an instant can bring back a flood of memories from a different time. In many ways, they remind me of who I was but also of who I still am buried under the day to day business of being a wife and mother, the two roles that have the power to take over one's spirit and redefine a purpose in life. I am so glad I have kept such precious tokens of my existence as it seems so easy to forget our lives and the things that have brought us to where we are today. Maybe I kept all of these things so that one day I would have a tangible time-line of my life, of stories to be told at just the right time and memories to share with a new generation. It's not all in the glamorous places we've lived and vacations we've taken, but in the first faded photograph of Jim and I together, the cards and letters that say all the right words, a newspaper clipping from high school, or a random Red Sox game with your friends that turned into one of the last good times you had before you left home to start a new chapter in life. I am so happy to have found all of these things because without each individual piece of paper collected together in their wrinkled and folded piles the path of my life would have been carved differently. Funny how we can place such value in these little slips of paper...

Our time in Florida is just about up. I think it's time to close out this portion of the blog so that I have time to have the book printed to bring home to Boston with us. Jim is still away and we're feeling his absence here especially on Brad's birthday. One more week and he'll be home and we'll be leaving but I'll keep the updates coming while we're traveling because we have a few exciting events on our agenda during our visit home. Thanks for allowing us to share our lives with you and we hope you all keep in touch while we are in Germany. Good-bye for now to all of our wonderful friends; I know we will see you all again someday...

July 16, 2008

It's a little late but here are a few pictures from our July 4th celebration on the beach of course, at a friend's house. It was probably the hottest day to date and we saw an ambulance in front of our house assisting a fallen celebrant who apparently combined too much sun with too much fun! Rhiannon spent most of the day inside playing on the drums and guitar and microphone. We barely knew she was there. The picture of Brad with the beer bottle is priceless. He had picked it up and turned around to hand it to me and the delay in the flash captured his "drunk" face. We couldn't have planned it that way.



Jim left last week for SERE training at Fairchild AFB in Washington state. He said there are a lot of mountains there. So far he is doing really well and has given me a few insights as to what he's been up to. I hate that he has to go through it but if he will learn some valuable survival skills, then I suppose it will all be worth it. I have stayed busy here getting ready for our two shipments going out very soon! In my voyages into the long unopened boxes and drawers full of miscellaneous items I have discovered many things I had forgotten about over the years, specifically Jim and myself in our first photo. I also discovered my ticket stub to a New Kids on the Block concert a million years ago. Old friends from Iceland have just moved in down the street, and Tracie and I have picked up our wine nights right where we left off 3 years ago, only now in a slightly warmer climate. Her husband is soon to join Jim in the ABM world which also means possible future assignments together.

Rhiannon is getting anxious to move as well. She told me last night that she is tired of waiting and doesn't want to stay here for three more weeks. "Let's leave tonight Mom," she said. She is a constant chatterbox and while in the line at the post office yesterday she babbled on about her stuffed dog and how he was shedding his winter coat and that he is a flea bag. I'm sure I got a few snickers. In the same line Brad decided to blow raspberries on my shoulder. How cute. Lately his favorite word is light (col-ah) don't ask me where he got that version. He points out lights everywhere. He has also recently added the words "ow" and "shh" to his vocabulary. It's hard to believe that he will be two in ten days. He is definitely not a baby anymore.