Chronicler In Chief

Looking back on 2012, one thing is clear, my partner in life, love, and raising children is woefully absent from any substantial contributions to the Family Blog.

The reason for the blog is not only for our friends and family but for the children (and one day grandchildren).  I hope that they can read entries that haven't been looked at in years; my second deployment, the loss of Rebecca, the birth of Grant, Sam moving in.  That is, of course, if computers are still around and this web site still exists. 

In 2012 as well as today we are both busy.  Lisa carries the lion's share of taking care of the kids while I take of things like cooking and taking out the garbage.  It's a busy household.  Think of it as Lisa is HR and I am Operations.

This blog is a labor of love.  It interferes with all of the other things I could/should be doing and writing is not without effort.  Trying to make a middle-class families issues sound interestingly readable (even to the writer) takes time and consideration.  Quite frankly, I could just post pictures with long captions next to them and get the same effect.  However, unlucky for all of us I am just narcissistic enough to think I can write.  Meh - maybe not. 

I think my chief complaint is that the story of this family is only being written by me and that we are missing a whole other side and aspect to it.  This is a team effort.  Mom has a say. Maybe even the kids in when they are older.



But still, a report from the HR department from time to time - now - would be nice.

Father - Daughter Trip

Best.  Picture.  Ever.

Look at my new favorite picture is me and my daughter.  The sun is setting over our shoulders as we stand in front of a topiary of Mickey Mouse outside of Disney Hollywood Studios.  Her arms are over my shoulders and the smiles on our faces each say something different.  Mine says, "after all these years I am finally to the point where I can take fun trips with my kids."

Sam and I took a long weekend over the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend to go to Orlando and use our Vacation Club.  Sam and I have long talked about a trip to the Hollywood Studios so she could ride the Tower of Terror; a ride her younger brother got to ride before she did.  I planned the trip way back in July and waited patiently until Christmas to give the trip as a present because even though Lisa and I both love Disney parks, I am the big kid ready to go again.  And again.  And again.  

Our trip coincided with the Charleston Marathon where Sam and Lisa provided support to the Run A Kid To Camp team from Camp Seafarer - almost half way to Florida!  After the race on Saturday, we got a good nights rest and drove to Orlando and the Disney Boardwalk Inn.  

I suppose some parents would dread spending a six hour drive (from Charleston, SC to Orlando, FL) and a nine hour drive home, let alone spending three days just with your offspring and no other adults.  And that was true for me too because I didn't know what we were going to talk about for all that time.  After all, there is only so much anticipation about the trip your can muster up, and trying to go over all the things you need to parent your kids about is exhausting for both.  I certainly could have dredged up Sam's missteps from 2012, but who wants to start a trip like that?!  Yet, I was also excited to be able to spend time just with her at an age where she wasn't fully independent and didn't need 100% supervision.  

It's great to be able to share a hobby with your kids.  For some its hunting, or camping, or baking, or even playing video games.  Disney has always held a special place in my heart and Sam and I both love thrill rides. Disney is our family hobby.

Tower of Terror?  Check.  Three times.

Star Tours?  Check.  Four times.

Pictures with Mickey?  Yes!

Disney parade?  You bet.

Disney magic?  Of course - everywhere.

Throughout the day - looking over and seeing the smile on Samantha's face - a face that is no longer a child's but is still not quite an adult's, I realize that special moments will become few and far between in the years ahead as she leaves our home for her own life.  

We had a great time and still left an attraction or two for another visit.

Thank you, Walt, for a dream that allows this family to connect with laughter, thrills, and good times.

Thank you, Sam, for a great day together.

A-ten-shun!

Lots of Monsters

Mickey and Sam

We Went Tractor Tippin' After We Took This Pic

American Idol Auditions

 

So Scary Snow

I've been living in North Carolina for three years now.  I left New York in January 2010 in the middle of a snow storm and arrived 600 some odd miles to the south in another snow storm.  It figures that the bad weather would follow me.

2010. Never Again!

Since my arrival I've seen snow on at least three occasions; the most significant being the day after Christmas 2010.  Grant was three weeks old.  It snowed enough to make a snowman. 

After 43 years living with snow every year, and living a majority of those years where Lake Effect Snow is a dominant weather event, I can attest that snow is very picturesque for a day and then loses its attraction altogether.  For the rest of the winter.  I have shoveled and pushed so much snow in my life that the total collective weight of it must be over a ton.  Seriously.

I do not miss snow.  I get a chill every time Al Roker shows me one of those blizzards dumping snow in Somewhere Else, USA.

This week the weather guys predicted a snow storm of up to 4 inches in parts of this state.  I had been in Kentucky where a ice storm barely brushed by the part of the state I was in and when I got back to RDU the electronic highway signs flashed and warned "WINTER STORM WARNING." In Raleigh, North Carolina snow is a reason to fret and horde everything from gasoline to milk and bread.  It causes enough of a panic that schools are delayed or closed before the first flake ever falls from the sky. Thursday evening my work delayed its start by two hours and TJ's school pushed back its opening by two hours as well. 

And so, Thursday night was full of torrents of rain and the temperature began to drop.  [Cue the dramatic music.]  By Friday morning the sun was out to reveal nothing but a good frost.  [Insert rim shot here.]  TJ, hoping to see snow, was crestfallen.  Work and schools were still delayed and I drove in on clear, dry roads in forty degree weather.

Of all the benefits of moving to the South, the fact that I do not need a snow shovel ranks up near the top.

I do not miss snow. 

Wow - Hello, 2013

Creating a blog is easy.


Maintaining a blog with two jobs, three kids, holidays, family, and, well, The Walking Dead is on - it get hard.  So here it is that 2013 is already a week old and the blog has nothing to show for it since before Halloween.  So let's do this - here are some pictures of Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas before we start the New Year.

Grant recycled his brother's monkey costume for Halloween.  Once he got the hang of ringing doorbells and getting lollipops he was unstoppable.

 TJ completed his Ironman costume and in a moment of utter confidence decided to walk the three miles from out house to his old pre-school to attend their Trick-or-Treat - in the dark.  He got as far as the end of road before we collected him and returned him, dejected, to the house.

Making the Apple Pie

TJ is always a help in the kitchen and putting the finishing touches on the apple pie for Thanksgiving - our first "official" meal in the dining room since it was remodeled with chair rails and wainscoting.

Bob and Betty Reunited

TJ and Nathan -Christmas Eve Service

Sam and Kira - Angels

Grant - Moo

After almost 18 months apart, Bobby and his mom were able to reunite.  His illness is currently under control allowing he and his mom to enjoy each others company - the highlight of 2012.










TJ and his old buddy (can you say that of a 5 five old?) Nathan got together at church on Christmas Eve to celebrate the Nativity.  TJ decided to be a king while Nathan was a sublime bovine.











The girls tried on halos.  It didn't help.














Grant - always the charmer, donned cow ears and mooed throughout the service. 














And now we are up to speed.



The New Year is going to be challenging for us.  2013 ushered in a new job for me and they "in-sourced" my job from a contractor to a government employee.  While the long term benefits of working for the government are good, the immediate issue is a loss in pay in the new position.  As of this writing it is still being worked on - but the loss of income is never good. Lisa is also going through her own career woes - and her issues are yet to be resolved. All this means a lean year for the family but we will make it work.

2013 will also provide challenges of raising children; a teenager in particular who occasionally makes good decisions and keeps them to herself but then broadcasts bad decisions on Twitter and other social media.  As a parent I can't stand social media; its intrusive, untrustworthy, and it blurs the line of acceptable behavior.  I think there is a generation of kids out there who are going to be impacted be there posts months or years after they post them to cyber space.  I don't know and cannot imagine what the long term impacts are of living your life on line as they do but it worries me. 

While Sam and her parents struggle through her adolescence in real time on social media I can't help but wonder what Sam's fifteen year old will have to deal with technologically. 

Same for this blog.  While the contributions have been few, it is a chronicle of our family.  Births, triumphs, trials, vacations, they are all are remembered here.  Our hope is that is exists long into the kids adulthood for them to look back on and enjoy.  However, that's a lot of information floating out there for a long time and while its benign - do we really want it out there? 

Who's reading this anyway?