Empty Rooms, Full Hearts

The rooms are empty in our house now, save for a few air mattresses and random boxes and a few snacks in the kitchen.  Our house will not be ours anymore in a couple more days.  Today we spent most of our waking hours loading a twenty-six foot shipping truck with the help of a couple movers.  The truck is completely full, and will be stationed in our driveway until Monday, when our new house legally becomes ours.

The house we have known for over the last nine years, on Monday, will legally belong to someone else.  The rooms are pretty much empty now, but the memories are thick and stacked.  Each step through the barren spaces echos on the hard surfaces that were once covered with pictures and paintings and little doodles taped up by the girls.  Violet's room was once her nursery and before that it was Audrey's room and nursery.   I can still remember the long day of installing the wood flooring and wall paneling and painting to make it just right for our first child.

Many memories of laughter, tears, joy, sadness, and growing overwhelm me as I walk through the rooms of the house, our first house, for the last time.  The moving vans are loaded and the key turns in the lock.  The next time it is unlocked, it will be by the new owners.

A few hours later, and a few dozen signatures down the line, we are legally the new owners of our dream house.  Opening the door for the first time, and letting our girls run around, exploring their new home...THAT is a moment I will cherish.  Each room is absolutely empty, yet full of possibilities and our future.  We have now been in our house for a week, and boxes are everywhere, but each item we pick-up is finding a new place...a place where it belongs.  And so are we as a family.  We are finding our place here, and rediscovering where we belong.  The answer is simple, though:  we belong here and together.  Wherever here is.

-a

Headlight

I am sitting in an oil change station having a headlight replaced on my car.  Today is Labor Day and the rest of the family is still asleep at home, but I needed to get this headlight repaired before we hit the road again.  While it is only one headlight, I have been mentally tripping over it again and again even when I am not driving.  There is something about knowing I can address something small right now, that could prevent a major problem later on if left unattended.  

Like many things in life, working on something small and immediate will have big payoffs later or over the course of time.  Going for a run now will make me stronger and healthier later.  Reading to my kids now helps them become more literate sooner.  Being kind to people now helps to build positive relationships that will be useful in the future.  

So even though I am stuck listening to some daytime talk show in a garage waiting room on my Labor Day holiday, I know I am doing something that will keep my family safe as we move forward both literally and figuratively.   

Sitting Still

Super Violet!

It is the first weekend after the beginning of the school year.  I have been trying to just rest and get the house cleaned-up.  There really isn't much else I want to accomplish on this gray, humdrum weekend.  There is something nice about just sitting on this quiet Sunday morning.  The clouds cover the sky outside, and we are all snuggled under blankets on the couch watching cartoons and enjoying our chocolate milk and coffee.

Getting to sit still for a while is important.  I will be going for a run, and doing all kinds of work later as the day progresses.  However, having some time to just sit still and not feel compelled to rush through each moment is important to me.  The first few days of my new position have had me up and about the building constantly, which has been wonderful and tiring at the same time.  I am getting the chance to be the administrator I would want, and still meeting all of my obligations thus far.  

We are often caught-up in our lives to the point where we forget to just sit still and listen and take-in our surroundings.  I hope to go for a run later, and allow my body to get some exercise and just take some time to think and "zone out" while my muscles work for a while.  We all need to take time to zone out and let our bodies have a good work out and just find time to be still, if only for a short while.

Hitting the Heavy

I was walking through one of my new schools at which I am now assistant principal.  The hallways are quiet and darkened.  The janitorial staff is in the midst of cleaning, repairs, and moving all kinds of materials and furniture all over the building.  It still hasn't really dawned fully on me that many young minds and professional educators will fill these quiet spaces in a little over a month.  A small radio plays fuzzy hits from the 70's and 80's and I can hear the hum and buzz of a deep clean vacuum as I sit in my empty little office arranging my calendar for the upcoming weeks.

I am brought back momentarily to my summers working manual labor and building maintenance as a teenager in Juneau.  My manager, Tim, would give me a vague, large assignment and tell me to, "Hit the heavy."  For example, on my first day on the job, Tim told me to go out onto the breakwater and use a hacksaw to cut away as much rebar as I could.  "Start in that area, and work your way along hitting the heavy."  This basically meant get to the obvious, glaring stuff.  Do the hard work first, and later you may come back and get the minor things you mist on the first go-round.  That saying, "hit the heavy", has stuck with me through life.

The last month has taken me far away from this blog as I focus on many different elements in life.  My mother visited a few weeks ago, and spent a few sweet days playing and laughing and enjoying time with us.  It was the first time in over a year that I had seen her, and getting to watch her interact with her grandchildren was beyond special.  It was only an eye blink before she had to leave and return to her life.  Shortly after, however, my dad and sister arrived from Juneau and Washington, DC, respectively.  We took trips into the city, played, read, cooked, laughed, watched movies, and rested together.  It was important for all of us to have these chances to see each other and renew the sense of family, despite our distance apart.

Now we transition into the end of summer, where we look forward to school and finding our way back into our jobs and go about the daily business of being a small family unit again.  We are hitting the heavy as we find what works every hour of every day.  From waking up, to getting to school and work, to me just figuring out what I need to do for my new career in administration and for my family, as well.  There are a lot of little details that we will all have to work-out:  dentist appointments, birthdays, board meetings, and bedtime stories....but those are the little things.  For now, we are all content to just hit the heavy and sweat the small stuff later on.

Summer pictures

Thinking Gold!  Audrey and Violet receive another package from Uncle Michael!

Daddy and Violet.  Just Chilling.

Audrey and a Wallaby at Brookfield Zoo.

Attle, Violet, and Audrey going ape at Brookfield Zoo.

Violet and the croc.

Sunset wagon ride at the park.  Attle and Audrey pulling Violet.  This picture makes my heart happy.

Ice cream treat.  Violet, Attle, and Audrey enjoy some ice cream in downtown Plainfield.

Audrey seconds after loosing her second tooth!

Father and son together again!

Zayde reads the girls (and Phoebe) the latest Dr. Seuss book.

Aunt Eden and Violet at Brookfield Zoo in the Australia House.

Uncle Stuart met us at the Zoo.  Violet loves her presents from Uncle Stuart!

The Golden Girls:  Aunt Eden, Audrey, and Violet pose with goldpans from Uncle Michael!

Somewhere over the rainbow:  Audrey, Zayde, and Violet watch The Wizzard of Oz.

Aunt Eden and Violet at Indian Boundary Park.

Violet, Audrey, and Aunt Eden at Indian Boundary Park.

Audrey and Violet.

July Transitions

We sit at home, playing and resting.  We bike and run outside.  Afternoons are for naps and snacks and reading.  The evenings are reserved for more play and making dinner.  July is a time of simple pleasures.  Visiting Indiana for the 4th and celebrating with friends and family.  Fireworks, hot dogs, the classic stuff.  Bugbites, sun kissed shoulders and cheeks, and small cuts and bumps are all telltale signs of a good summer.  

My heart misses Juneau every year at this time. July in Juneau is a special time of year when the light stays longer, time slows down, and all seems right with the world.  Hopefully soon I will get to return with my family and revisit my childhood there.  

For now, though, we spend a lazy Tuesday doing errands, reading, drawing, and maybe even a little baking of cookies later today.  Simple but wonderful.  A gray overcast day watches as we go about our business of being.  Soon we know our schools and schedules will change and become much more complex and demanding.  Today, however, we will celebrate by getting haircuts and some books and coloring stuff and sit content in our living room stoking our imaginations, laughing and maybe enjoying a chocolate chip cookie or two!  

Zoos and Such

Audrey enjoys the native plant garden at Maercker Primary School.  

We have been in a happy, content little schedule these last couple weeks.  My administrative responsibilities haven't really kicked-in just yet, so summer is still in full-swing in our house!  Kim has taken this past week off, so it has been a treat to have our family all together each morning and just taking the day as it arrives on our doorstep.

The weather has been rather cool, with some rain and cloudy afternoons.  This has allowed us to mostly stay close to home and enjoy the simple things in life.  We are going on daily bike rides for a couple miles.  The girls are ready to attempt two-wheels soon, and Kim is finding her balance again with her bike!  Even Phoebe enjoys a couple trips around the block.  

I took Audrey and Violet into Chicago to visit Uncle Stuart and visit Lincoln Park Zoo (see pictures below).  This last week, we have also visited Brookfield Zoo.  There is something special about having the opportunity to see and learn about animals with my daughters.  I recognize that I am not personally happy about the idea of zoos in general, but these opportunities to observe and become more aware about the major issues that these animals and animal populations face in the world is something I think must be paid attention to...especially by children.  Tomorrow we will be returning to Brookfield to take another crack at getting a glimpse of the new wolf pups and also the new children's wing.  

Other than some school reading, I have been picking away at a Stephen King book (Finders Keepers), listening to a lot of podcasts, running and biking, and trying to take-in every day during this short summer.  Today I took Audrey to visit my schools and walk around to become a little more familiar with each one.  Just looking around and seeing all of the wonderful space made me excited to really begin working and becoming a part of it all.

Soon.  I know.  All in good time.  For now, it is simplicity, laughter, naps, and small adventures.  

Violet and Audrey on the Brookfield lion and serpent.

Getting a close-up of a leopard.  Audrey was a little worried, but soon appreciated this opportunity!

They LOVE the zoo misters and sprinklers.  It was also raining slightly during our trip to Brookfield, but getting to the misters is always a highlight!  

Violet attempting leapfrog at Brookfield.

Violet and a shark.

Violet checking her size relative to a grizzly bear.  I see this as preparing for a future trip to Alaska!

The girls get to see one of the grizzly bears out and about.

Acting loony at Brookfield!

Audrey and a giraffe at Brookfield.

The girls in a sample hut at Brookfield.

Cute kiddos.

Hopping for a good photo opportunity!

Audrey walking Phoebe at the Renwick Bird Preservation trail.  This is one of my favorite places where we live.

This is a dinner with some of my favorite friends from Hadley.  They took me out to dinner and we had a lot of laughs and celebrated getting rid of me and my new administrative position!  These are great people!

Uncle Stuart took us to Molly's Cupcakes in Chicago after our trip to Lincoln Park Zoo.  Those things were SO DELICIOUS!  

Violet and her cupcake....flavored like cake batter.  

The girls loved the swings at Molly's Cupcakes.

Uncle Stuart and the girls at a small bird sanctuary near Lincoln Park!

Uncle Stuart and Violet viewing the seals underwater!

We stopped for a quick snack before taking-on the zoo!

Audrey, Violet, and Shakespeare.   

Audrey and Uncle Stuart.  Audrey is learning the "Orelove stride" from the master!