Vacations, Beaches, and Nor'Easters

Steve and I never take vacations. Since we started dating over 9 years ago, we have been to Atlantic City, Myrtle Beach, Kings Mill in Williamsburg, OBX, and Charlotte, North Carolina. We travel up to D.C. frequently to see my parents and friends and when we take time off from work it's usually because family is visiting from out of town or we are traveling up to West Virginia for my family reunion (no jokes please, I have heard them all! My family tree branches out appropriately, thank you!), but very rarely do we manage to get out of town as a family to just relax and have fun. So when provided with the opportunity, we jumped at the chance to turn a weekend trip to the Outer Banks for a wedding into an excuse for a vacation. Over the course of the last month, in which the Atlantic was very active in churning up storms, our mantra became "please let our trip be hurricane free." We forgot to add, "...and please no Nor'Easters." When we arrived on Saturday, it was already pretty windy. By Sunday, we spent a total of 10 minutes on the beach because the wind was so strong, the no swimming signs were up, and the sea was churning. Little did we know that this would be the only 10 minutes we would spend on the beach for our whole trip!!!! We ended up leaving on Tuesday to avoid getting stuck in the rapidly approaching coastal storm. We drove along the beachfront road in Nags Head before we left and the waves were already coming up under some of the houses that were built directly on the beach. So we finished off our vacation by taking Brian up to visit his Oma and Grandpa in D.C. We were a little disappointed with our beach vacation (as the vacation really did not include much of the beach...) but we were able to spend wonderful quality time together as a family, Steve and I didn't have to work for 6 days straight (AWESOME feeling!!!), and Steve was able to hang with (i.e. get intoxicated with...) all his college fraternity buddies at the very beautiful wedding we went to. So I would say, off time well spent! I feel energized and refreshed and ready to tackle the.....weekend! ;) Next weekend- off to Jessica's wedding in New York! Wow, I am feeling like quite the traveler.....
I am posting some pictures of our vacation below, enjoy!

Steve and I at Damien's wedding posing in front of the well stocked bar that I was unable to indulge in. I am determined to allow pictures of me to be taken during this pregnancy. I was adamantly against it with Brian, in fact I only have pregnancy pictures during two events- family reunion and my baby shower. I prefer to refer to them as fat and fatter. This will probably the last picture I have of myself pregnant that I actually LIKE....

I loved the centerpieces so much, I had to take a picture of one (check out the coozy wedding favors- made out of Coast Guard grade life preserver material! Very cool...Brian spent the 5 hour drive up to D.C. with one on each arm and told us they were his floaties for the pool)

Another shot of me and my honey (such a hottie! And not aging at all! 4 years older than me, and I will soon look older than him...)
The reception was overlooking the Sound and this picture was an attempt to capture the beautiful sunset.

The beer boat. Best idea ever. So glad we were toddler free for this wedding. Brian would have been IN the boat (or underneath it, depending on its perch's stability....)


Dreaded no swimming sign with Day 1 waves (not yet Nor'Easter waves)

Brian and me FREEZING our tushies off and trying not
to let the wind blow us away

Brian and Daddy BEFORE the long trek up to the Wright Brothers Memorial
I'm King of the World!

Brian is seriously the cutest boy ever. Yeah, totally biased but look at that face!

Another one of my cutie-patootie
Brian playing his new favorite game, "Go Lily Pad, Stop Lily Pad" Basically when he says Stop Lily Pad, you stop until he says Go Lily Pad. Theoretically. In practice, everyone BUT Brian has to stop on Stop Lily Pad. Kids. Where do they come up with this stuff?
Brian, do we have to pay you for a smile?? Mommy and Daddy are still in good spirits as this was before we decided to take the trail that claimed to be a mile and a half long that was, in reality, much longer than a mile and a half....

Ugh, I hate how long it takes to post pictures on this blog, arrange them in correct order, etc. I am so uncreative with this blog because I don't get it half the time.....
Tomorrow...D.C. pictures!!!

Overcoming the fear to fly

For those that do not know me as well as others, about 10 years ago I developed a fear of flying. Me, afraid to fly? Made about as much sense as fish fearing water, birds fearing heights, a child fearing play. Having taken my first flight in 1979 and having been bitten by the traveling bug at an early age, the idea of being afraid to get on an airplane was just ludicrous. And to pinpoint that exact moment....for the last 10 years, believe me, I have tried. I have asked myself a number of questions- was it the flight where the landing gear wouldn't come out and we got 20 feet from the runway and had to take back off into the air only to have firetrucks waiting for us alongside the runway once the landing gear finally worked and we were able to land? Or was it the severe thunderstorm we flew into upon landing during another flight, one that led the plane to erupt in applause when the plane had safely landed on the ground? Or perhaps it was all the ridiculously long flights I had to weather across the Pacific to visit my parents? Whatever situation it was that triggered my fear, I have since done silly things like delaying getting on an international flight, stranding myself in LAX overnight (did you know that airlines can get you a "passenger in distress" rate for airport hotels? Yup, learned that one that trip!), refusing to take a plane back across country once I got to my destination forcing me to take the Greyhound bus from San Diego, California back to Norfolk, Virginia (for those wondering, it took 4 days and it was absolutely the most refreshing shower I have EVER taken in my life when I returned home), and generally avoiding any trip or reason that would require me to board an airplane (how does one satisfy the love and NEED to travel when one will not board a plane?).
But I am happy to report that after 3 and a half years, I got on an airplane last week. Better yet, I also utilized my return ticket and flew home at the end of my trip! I have to say that the experience was absolutely EXHILARATING!!!! It was liberating, it was freeing, it was exactly what I needed to do to release myself from the restricting chains of this fear, and to begin the process of facing other fears that may be hindering me in my life. A wise man told me that our fears are rarely actually a fear of that specific circumstance or event, but a fear of being exposed. Let me elaborate. When one has a fear of flying, it's not actually the flight or the plane that is causing that fear. It's the fear of your reaction to this event, the fear of not having control and being exposed for all to see. So do I fear being exposed? Mmmm, not sure how to answer this, I feel like I am pretty much a "what you see is what you get" kind of gal, but the not being in control TERRIFIES me. Some may go so far as to call me a control freak, and I probably wouldn't argue.
To avoid the long process of self psycho-analyzing myself, I will stop here and give myself credit (and do the little celebratory dance) for (hopefully) overcoming this fear of flying. I have gotten my wings back and can not wait for the next opportunity to fly, no, SOAR!

Weekend, Sweet Weekend....

I love a good relaxing weekend. I am happily content today, after morning errand running, a baby shower (OK, truthfully the errand running was buying the baby shower gift- I am seriously the world's worst procrastinator), a little bit of cleaning, a little bit of chatting on the phone, wonderful quality time with my favorite two boys, and celebrating that one of those little boys made it the WHOLE day with no pee accidents (well the other one made it through with no accidents as well, but at 35 it's more of an expectation than at just under 3), I smile upon our relaxing day and on our happy life! I have had my moments of sadness/frustration today- no fault of anyone- but am ending my day with an attitude of acceptance that there are certain things in life over which I have no control and I just have to believe that the Big Guy upstairs has a plan for me and our family. Whatever happens (or doesn't happen), happens (or doesn't) for a reason, even though the reason may not be explicitly clear right away. But I digress.

Sights/Pics/Thoughts from the week....
Work and Wildlife
This picture of a cute, little bunny was taken with my cell next to our garden at work. As you probably can gauge from the trees and brush our program is located on the edge of the wild. And this is where I prefer to see wildlife. In the wild. Not scurrying down the hallway, seeking refuge behind the file cabinet in my office, as occurred on Thursday. After about 10 minutes, 4 of us managed to catch the petrified field mouse and return him to the wild you see above. If only these were the only two critters we have seen. Thanks to the four birdfeeders located near the garden (and the OCD birdseed tendencies of one or two folks), it often looks like a scene from Hitchcock's The Birds out back; we have a handful of ferral cats that lay in wait for those unsuspecting birds, and some creature that looked to be a cross between a wombat and a beaver (we never figured out that one, but I am not crazy, I think it was you Alex, that saw it too, waddling through the garden...). Then there was the mountain lion, and the pterodactyl. But that's a whole other story......


The above picture was taken on morning this week, I thought it was a beautiful scene and wanted to capture it. This is how I prefer to experience my commute vs. this.....

Not sure which is worse, the ominous clouds or the miles of brake lights....

And finally, here is a shot of my babooshka at the beach, he's my happy little lark.

Excited about Poop! (AKA- potty training break-thru!)

I am soooooo proud of Brian! Tonight we had a potty training break-through. Brian jumped up from his chair grabbing his pull-up and saying "Mommy I need the potty, I have to go poopie." Once I got past the shock (he has NEVER asked for the potty to poop!), we ran to the potty and Brian tried and tried. He changed his mind about 5 times over 20 minutes, but then decided that he preferred the big potty- after about 3 minutes of crying and straining (I know I know, TMI- especially for those with no kids who may have a little more difficulty understanding all the excitement over poop- but Brian has suffered with gastrointestinal issues for over 2 years so the pain involved for him is a real issue) PLOP PLOP! Brian started hysterically laughing and hiked himself so he could "see the poopie Mommy, that's a big big poopie!" Wow, and it was!, poor kid. But he did it! He identified that he needed to go, told me where he wanted to go, and initiated the whole thing all on his own. I am so proud of him!!!! We jumped up and down and danced around the 2nd floor singing our song "A poopie on the POTTY." Brian was so cute- he is most excited about this...Brian loves school buses and the idea of school and one thing we have used as encouragement around potty training is that once he wears big boy underoos he can start going to school. So immediately after, Brian looked at me with big eyes and said "Mommy Mommy! I pooped on the potty, I am big now, I can go to school!!" I wish I had a camcorder running to capture that moment in time for 10 years (or less) down the road when I am sure he will moan and groan about how much he hates school and how he doesn't want to go...
Oh my baby is growing up! I am so happy for him (and happy for us that he may be potty trained by 3 after all!- no more having to buy diapers, woo hoo!) and proud of him but it's just one more reminder that my baby's not a baby anymore. Sniff Sniff.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080721/ap_on_en_ot/savage_autism

I have never heard of this idiot but apparently he has a popular radio show. I think he should go the way of Howard Stern and Imus. How absolutely offensive his words are. I am curious to know if 1. he has children, 2. he has a relationship with those children, and 3. he has every met anyone with autism. Just wanted to share this article.

SCREAM

Sometimes we all find the need to scream- just to release stress and tension. So here is my cyber scream as I am in my office and screaming just does not seem to be appropriate work behavior (especially considering I work in a Vocational Rehabilitation Program where we help people in developing appropriate work behaviors. I would just not be setting a good example....)
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
OK I feel a little better. Unfortunately it did nothing to reduce the length of my To-Do List. Or the work piling on my desk. Or the requests that are sure to walk into my office, come through my e-mail, or call on the phone throughout the day. But I feel a little bit better. Hopefully now I can focus....

Lessons learned....

Whew, what a week! As with anything else, good intentions do not always equal tangible results, and now it's been 5 days since I have updated my blog. Several times this week, I have stopped and thought, "I really need to blog about that...." or "that was hilarious, I should put that on my blog" and alas, here I am, thinking how to summarize our week in a nutshell. So here it is- in a little diddy I think I will call Lessons Learned....

• Pull-ups really are a diaper disguised as a useful potty-training tool. Good news- Brian said in the car on Wednesday, "Mommy I have to go potty." Which means he is now recognizing the sensation of needing to go. Excellent! Bad news- Upon replying to this profound statement with "OK, you hold it for a minute while I find somewhere we can stop to use the potty" he responded "No, I can go in my pull-up, you will change it." Nice. Real nice. Clearly the pull-up has become the big boy diaper.
• Often the traits we notice and dislike, are the ones we clearly recognize in others, but find harder to accept and change in ourselves. Tardiness/being late. That's my big one. It has always been a struggle for me, and I find it easier to believe that it is fate and that there is some greater reason for me to be running late at any given time. (i.e. If I had left in time to get to work early as I had intended, I could have been involved in this accident that now has me sitting in a 30 minute back-up at the tunnel and will no doubt make me very late for work.) When in fact I really just need to accept that it has less to do with divine intervention and more to do with the fact that I am a habitually late person with poor time management skills. There, I said it. Don't they say acceptance is the first step to recovery? Alright, now what?...Am I now allowed to be really ticked at the person who made me late to pick up Brian after work this week because she was running an hour and a half behind? I hope so.
• Murphy's Law is REAL. And can be very messy. I decided on Wednesday to have Brian start wearing underoos as much as possible (see first lesson learned) and after I picked him up from the sitter, into the Thomas underwear he went. We went outside to play with chalk and I thought I was soooo prepared bringing the potty outside with us. Five minutes later, it thundered. Or shall I say Brian thundered. My advice is that one start the underoos on a day that is free from gastrointestinal disturbance. After a much needed bath, into a pull-up he went. He won that battle but he has not won the war.
• Good things will come in their own time. Especially when toddlers are involved. Brian went to the potty ALLLLLL day on Friday. No accidents. Woo hoo!!!! 'Nuff said! :) An especially nice treat after the messy Wednesday. Wish us luck for the week to come....