Ugh! I have never wanted spring to come more. I'm dying to get outside for a run instead of driving the slushy roads to the gym on-post to run on a treadmill like a hamster. I need some fresh, warm--even frigid, whatever--just fresh air! The only benefit of all this snowy, arctic air is the anticipation of snow days. This, for a teacher or one who works at the school, is akin to Christmas time for a six year-old. Except instead of getting presents, we get something even more valuable--extra time! Now some of us will work like gophers with our extra time to get previously shirked duties done. Others of us will laze around and chat with colleagues we have only greeted while passing in the halls (one running to the bathroom, the other leading her students in a quiet, trudging line). It's the only thing teachers can talk about when there is a hint of snow in the forecast. Before you know it, a possible dusting of snow turns into an impending blizzard. Usually, we are all let down when the rumors (and our prayers) don't come true. We grudgingly go back to school (though maybe a minute or two late just out of spite to the weather) and resume our days as planned. Sigh.
But on occasion...We get woken at 4:30 am with excited proclamations of 2 HOUR DELAYS and--dare we actually say it aloud--NO SCHOOL (for students, but okay)!!! Hence, I'm still sitting here at home sipping my coffee in my pj's :)
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, everyone! Okay, here's why I haven't been blogging. I started out blogging about everyday life and then, I started to feel like I needed to blog about more consequential things. And well, consequential thoughts just haven't been coming my way lately what with all the full-time working mommy-ing going on here. So anyway, I'm going to just write about life. Reichenbach life, which is what this thing started off as. A diary of sorts.
So...We flew to the States over the winter break. We wouldn't have done it again after last year's "House of Quarantine" fiasco, but hey, the brother-in-law was getting married (Congrats, Reg and Marisol!) All of us were in it. I was only worried about my little flower girl's ability to perform her job. And rightfully so. At the rehearsal, she cried "Mommy" everytime I left--and I had to because I was a secondary sponsor and had to walk down the aisle with my man. So after much stressing about how to get her to be the ideal and iconic flower girl, I came up with a plan. For nothing. About 3 seconds before we were all set to walk down the aisle in the real-deal wedding, Ava passed out. It was her nap time and there was no waking her up. She was comatose. So, the three of us walked down the aisle together to a collective giggle from the wedding audience. She was pretty. Looked like sleeping beauty, crown and all. Aiden performed his ring-bearer duties with much seriousness. And, despite his rehearsal-night proclamation of "I can't do it right," he did it perfectly. And was the handsomest boy up there, to boot (Sorry, Reg).
I thought I'd be hysterical on New Year's Eve by wearing the Edward Cullen t-shirt Rad bought me as a quasi-joke (because I swore I'd wear it if he bought it) to the party. And I was. Until one of the aunties brought down a life-sized cardboard cutout of Edward and insisted that I be a good sport and pose with it for pictures. OH H3{} NO!!!!! I actually had to hide behind the couch to avoid being caught for all eternity looking like an obsessed teen fan who was really a 30-something mother on film. In these days of Facebook and YouTube, one can never be too careful...
So, I was just hoping and praying that after last year's debacle of illnesses, we wouldn't get sick this time. Especially with H1N1 and hanging around planes and whatnot. Well, we did just fine until the day before we left when we all started coming down with something. Radley proceeded to act like he was dying from the time we boarded the plane. I suspected he was faking to get out of sitting next to Ava, but it turns out he had a double-ear infection. Ava had a single ear infection, which I got meds for upon braving a winter snow-storm and snow-covered roads to take her to the ER. I have just been taking care of getting everything in order again and went back to work the day after arriving back in Germany. And I believe I now have a double-ear infection. Plan to go to the doc's Monday.
So, now we're back home and it feels like we were gone way more than two weeks. But I think we've beat the jet-lag in less than a week, so that's something. Not to mention all the Christmas decorations are put away. It's always great to catch up with family and friends in person and there's a part of me that will always regret that we don't live closer to them. I was able to have some good heart-to-hearts with some friends that I've needed to connect with for a while. That was well-worth the harrowing transatlantic trips and all that entails. And of course, seeing Reggie and Marisol get married was very exciting and we're so happy for them! That was definitely a can't-miss life moment. We have many, many great memories from such a short time with our family and friends. Yet, I'm happy to be home and back to normal, as that is what I crave most of the time. Just a quiet, simple life where I can enjoy my family and notice the simple pleasures in life. And, dang...I need to get back to running!
So...We flew to the States over the winter break. We wouldn't have done it again after last year's "House of Quarantine" fiasco, but hey, the brother-in-law was getting married (Congrats, Reg and Marisol!) All of us were in it. I was only worried about my little flower girl's ability to perform her job. And rightfully so. At the rehearsal, she cried "Mommy" everytime I left--and I had to because I was a secondary sponsor and had to walk down the aisle with my man. So after much stressing about how to get her to be the ideal and iconic flower girl, I came up with a plan. For nothing. About 3 seconds before we were all set to walk down the aisle in the real-deal wedding, Ava passed out. It was her nap time and there was no waking her up. She was comatose. So, the three of us walked down the aisle together to a collective giggle from the wedding audience. She was pretty. Looked like sleeping beauty, crown and all. Aiden performed his ring-bearer duties with much seriousness. And, despite his rehearsal-night proclamation of "I can't do it right," he did it perfectly. And was the handsomest boy up there, to boot (Sorry, Reg).
I thought I'd be hysterical on New Year's Eve by wearing the Edward Cullen t-shirt Rad bought me as a quasi-joke (because I swore I'd wear it if he bought it) to the party. And I was. Until one of the aunties brought down a life-sized cardboard cutout of Edward and insisted that I be a good sport and pose with it for pictures. OH H3{} NO!!!!! I actually had to hide behind the couch to avoid being caught for all eternity looking like an obsessed teen fan who was really a 30-something mother on film. In these days of Facebook and YouTube, one can never be too careful...
So, I was just hoping and praying that after last year's debacle of illnesses, we wouldn't get sick this time. Especially with H1N1 and hanging around planes and whatnot. Well, we did just fine until the day before we left when we all started coming down with something. Radley proceeded to act like he was dying from the time we boarded the plane. I suspected he was faking to get out of sitting next to Ava, but it turns out he had a double-ear infection. Ava had a single ear infection, which I got meds for upon braving a winter snow-storm and snow-covered roads to take her to the ER. I have just been taking care of getting everything in order again and went back to work the day after arriving back in Germany. And I believe I now have a double-ear infection. Plan to go to the doc's Monday.
So, now we're back home and it feels like we were gone way more than two weeks. But I think we've beat the jet-lag in less than a week, so that's something. Not to mention all the Christmas decorations are put away. It's always great to catch up with family and friends in person and there's a part of me that will always regret that we don't live closer to them. I was able to have some good heart-to-hearts with some friends that I've needed to connect with for a while. That was well-worth the harrowing transatlantic trips and all that entails. And of course, seeing Reggie and Marisol get married was very exciting and we're so happy for them! That was definitely a can't-miss life moment. We have many, many great memories from such a short time with our family and friends. Yet, I'm happy to be home and back to normal, as that is what I crave most of the time. Just a quiet, simple life where I can enjoy my family and notice the simple pleasures in life. And, dang...I need to get back to running!
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