Shut Up and Dance

Season's greetings, everyone! I'm taking a break from decking the halls with boughs of holly* to sit down and write for a moment. My musings are inspired by two things: a trip to the post office this morning and the song on the radio as I drove back home.

The post office at this time of year is not everyone's favorite place. I have been five times in the last two weeks, apparently a glutton for queue punishment and apparently not a great planner. But you know what, I don't think it's the worst thing in the world. I met an elderly woman in line last week who told me of her travels to Egypt and lands far away. Another time, the boys told a joke to the ladies behind me ("Why did the cow cross the road? To go to the mooooovies...") which earned some smiles and a few giggles amongst the line. I was proud of them.

But I tried chatting it up with the woman in front of me in line this morning and it went poorly. Her responses were one worded and her back turned to my direction; I took it as the silent message it was... to shut up. I didn't feel rejected or upset, but obviously I started analyzing her and her packages in lieu of conversation. I can turn off my mouth, but my brain sure does love to observe and there is no off button for that.

I believe more fiercely than ever that happiness is a choice. I don't quite understand why some people choose to stew while standing in a line. Don't get me wrong: I get frustrated when lines are preventable. I'm human. But if a line is a line, that is what it is: just a line. Turn on your "om" and go with the flow. We all have stories, we all have heartbreak, we all have personal struggles and journeys. I don't discount if those are the things you are stewing about - go ahead and stew and cry and help yourself through it. I've been there and am there on most days. But the rest of the time, just try to make life more pleasant for yourself or someone standing in line.

I have one tattoo on my body and it simply reads "Be happy." For the love of all that is holy, people: just live a pleasant life. Joy doesn't need to leak out of your pores, but just smile once in a while - especially if you're standing in a huge line at the post office. Talk to that crazy lady in line behind you (I don't bite!).

And now to the song that peppered my ears on the way home. It was the infectious pop hit "Shut up and Dance" by the band Walk the Moon. A bit of a departure from my usual tunes, but man I love that song. It is catchy, it is fun and it has a great message.

Merry Christmas, everyone!




*Just kidding: I'm cleaning up Legos. Again.

Growing Up at the Pumpkin Patch

We feed and water them daily. Maybe next year they will smile.

2013

2014

2015

Quotes

Anders: Hey Mom, friends can't be beat, right?

Me: Yeah, buddy. That's sweet! Did you hear that on a show or something? You're right: friends can't be beat.

Anders: Yep. You don't beat your friends. That would hurt and they would need to go to the hospital.

Me: Kinda something like that...

Happy 5th Birthday, Landon!

You're terribly silly. You're terribly sweet. You're terribly smart. Sometimes I just can't physically let you go when we are wrapped up together in a hug. As I like to say: You make my heart happy. And as you like to say: I love you more than the last number on the longest number line.

You love Legos, books, board games, mazes and drawing your own creations of friendly zombies (?). Your alternate ego is "Mr. Goo," a resident vampire who has been with us the majority of the year (and has thankfully decided to evolve from his original mischievous villain state to a more domesticated, gentile version ... lest "Mommy Goo" take his cape away forever).

Your favorite song of the year was Parry Gripp's Neon Pegasus, followed closely by The Cranberries (Zombie, of course) and Weezer. But you're not too cool for school just yet because you can still bust out any Laurie Berkner song with the best of the storytime crowds. You know that the queen of soul is Aretha Franklin and the king of pop is Michael Jackson. I so hope your affinity for a range of music will maintain itself in the years to come. But even if it doesn't, you're still golden.

I love you more than, well, infinity.

Ode to Our Couch

As the shorter days fall into place, I'd like to publicly thank our couch. Where snuggles are had, tussles are rumbled, naps sneak in and where movies are enjoyed. 

It's Only a Month

What a funny Navy community we live in. We are so anesthetized* to what a normal balance is, that we end up saying things like, "How long is your hubby deployed for? Wow, only four months. That's a quick one!" Like they've won the lottery. When Erik left again this past month for safety school down in Florida, I fell into the same trap. "It's only a month," were my words as I noncommittally** shrugged in conversation.

Here's the deal: I don't care if its four days or four months. One month or one year. Time away is time away. The main difference is how you approach it. 

My "I am deployment strong" ego has been leaking air the past couple weeks. A sad little balloon, deflated and wafting down a hallway, bouncing half mast. I knew Erik was leaving for a month. I knew he would miss Landon's birthday (again). I knew he would miss out on the kids' favorite holiday (again). I didn't know I'd stumble. I think when you are going into a huge deployment and work ups and stuff, you have compartmentalized*** and braced yourself. So this time I didn't do that because it is "only a month." 

So by the end of week one, power struggles and personalities were running amok. By the end of week two, I was crying more than I am willing to admit. But I am up and trying to control the reigns again; this has been a lesson well learned.  

Sea tour, shore tour, less tour, more tour. Solo parenting is for the birds. But if you build yourself a nice little nest ahead of time (by way of daily scheduling/consistency for the kids and a nice beer supply for mom), it is a little easier to take flight.

*Holy shit. I can't believe I spelled that correctly on the first try.
**Wow. Two for two on the hard words. Sign me up for a Spelling Bee!
***Not so lucky. Disenroll me from said Bee.

Happy Fall

Camping on San Juan Island

As one last hurrah before the start of school, Erik wanted to take a family camping trip. While on deployment, he continually had visions of setting up camp with his boys once he was home for the summer to make some memories. So! We loaded up the truck with gear galore and hopped on a ferry starting in Anacortes and destined for Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. 

After driving off the ferry and through the small town of Friday Harbor, it was about a 10 minute drive to Lakedale, a resort that offers campgrounds, canvas tents for glamping and log cabins. We got a spot right along the lake and set up the ol' family Coleman for a few days. We all had a nice time and the best part (other than lack of crowds post Labor Day): there was no cell reception. No text messaging, no emails, no aimless Facebooking. Just us. When the kids went to bed, Erik and I stayed by the fire, looking up at the sky, glimpsing shooting stars. In the nearby brush, a majestic (aaand kinda scary) owl swooped out 20 feet from us and flew on his way once I shone my headlamp on him. It was pretty cheesy and generic as camping could get; it was wonderful.

Lounging and s'moring.

Brother on marshmallow duty. Kudos to us as all meals were made over a campfire and a small charcoal grill. Related point: we also smelled like campfire for 3 days straight.

Starting the fire on a chilly morning.

Brother on firewood duty.

I forced my family to a nearby sculpture garden on the other side of the island and it was too much to handle. That's Landon looking defeated and bored on the long carving log.

Seriously - the sculpture garden and trails were so neat! You'd be walking through the forest and then there would some amazing and random artwork when you least expected it. Anders and I liked this dragon :)

The boys having way too much fun at a nearby, creepy (yet beautiful) mausoleum.

The only time we ran into town was to get essentials: more beer.

Yum.

Being a silly billy.

Waiting for the ferry in Friday Harbor.

Waiting for the ferry in Friday Harbor.

Enjoying the communal puzzles on the ferry ride home.

Rounding Out the Summer

Aaaaand here is a photo dump to close out the lazy summer of 2015.

Catching an O's game at Safeco Field. It was a great stadium AND it was a no hitter ... for the Mariners. Woops.

Feeding birds at Woodland Park Zoo.

Growler Ball

Lots of silly park time.

Lots of seaweed time at Ship Harbor

Building and climbing driftwood creations at Tugboat Beach

Landon did a LOT of drawings these past few months. This one is "Zombies and Flowers" ... he even made "goo blobs" drip from the letters of his name. Van Gogh, eat your heart out! (Or a zombie will...)

A random major windstorm blew through and we lost power for a couple days. It seemed natural to send the kids out with plastic bags tied to strings to help kill time.

This was the summer of Captain Underpants (Dav Pilkey books) - we faithfully visited the library weekly to continue with the series. "Tra la la laaaaa!" 

Let me introduce you to my youngest son, "I'm-not-tired-I-don't-need-a-nap-but-I'll-just-rest-my-head-for-a-moment-Anders-*snore*."

A local photographer captured this beautiful image of a double rainbow down by Cap Sante Marina - we finally got rain!

First Day of Preschool 2015-2016

Summer Vacation at Bald Head Island

Earlier in the summer, I posted some photos from our trip back East, but I reserved some photos to make a video of our North Carolina adventure. Erik and his family have been heading to a place called Bald Head Island for years - I have long heard stories of long, lazy days by the water and silly antics at night, powered by golf cart rides amongst the island's narrow roads. It lived up to the hype; what a great place!

What are the odds the entire family could take time off during one week to come together in the summer? Rather slim, but it happened! What a wonderful trip. If you are into watching long videos of other people's vacations (with cute kids) that have no relation to you, have I got the video for YOU!

Congrats to LCDR Hubby

I'm a little late on posting this update, but congratulations to the tallest man of the house for his recent promotion to Lieutenant Commander! The boys and I were able to head to base a couple weeks ago to watch Erik pin on his new "O4" rank in the ready room at the squadron. We then accompanied him to a nearby brick oven pizza place - the finest our money could buy. Congratulations, babe! 

This promotion also happens to fall at the tail end of his current squadron tour. Up next: a month of leave to do some woodworking and R&R before he ends off to some various Navy schools and then comes back here to officially start his new department head tour with VAQ-134, where he will help transition the last Navy Prowler squadron to the new, updated Growler aircraft. It works out well, in terms of no deployments in the next year or two. Yippy skippy!

Looking sharp!

The boys in a ready room is always a little stressful for me as they jump around all the seats and immediately hone in on breakable stuff, but we are all smiles in general with promise of pizza.

It was good. Real good.

Anders bucks the pizza trend and goes for a hearty spaghetti and meat-a-ball plate.

Summer So Far

After our adventure back east in late June and early July, we've been keeping things local and lazy for summer thus far. It's been great; we live in such an amazing area, I never feel like pushing an agenda to go on grand trips when there is downtime. Although now that Erik has some upcoming time off, we may dabble in some long weekends here and there.

Sorry for the photo dump, but enjoy the laziness:

Landon started an obsession with checkers and is always desperately trying to teach little brother how to play. Someday, buddy.

Weeks and weeks of sun with no rain in sight.

"Oh, you know, just catching up on my summer reading while I'm perched on top of a table. The usual."

Being cute.

Sandwiching it up, PNW island style.

Cheering Daddy on at the finish line of a local half marathon.

Even Captain Anders America needs a break from the sun to enjoy some quiet play doh time.

Spidey!

Ferries.

Geese.

Pee Wee sports camp.

Anders' first movie theater experience: Minions.

Drinks with friends.

Playtime at the park.

Brother shenanigans.

Backyard popsicles to appease the late afternoon witching hour.

Backyard evening soirees with friends.