D.D.N.

Before Chris and I had kids, we were married for five and a half years. During the majority of this period of time, we were on the starving college student end of things, but we spent every Friday and Saturday night doing something fun. Sometimes it was walking to the video store (my kids will never know what this is) to rent a video. Sometimes it was a long walk around the neighborhood above our Osage Street apartment - the one where the Big Fancy Houses were. At the end of the walk, we would make a stop at the Big Fancy convenience store and buy a fairly average pack of M&M's before returning to the slums where we lived. When budget allowed, we would go see a movie and, after Chris had graduated, we would cut out early on a Friday afternoon and make a trip to the big city.

And then... there were children. I love my children dearly, but date night has become harder and harder to come by. We would love to have a sitter once a week, but once a month became all that was realistic. We missed our time together. That's when we "invented" D.D.N. It started out as Dessert Date Night, but it was shortened because A) We didn't want the kids to know we were having dessert without them and B) Dessert Date Night takes too long to say. 

D.D.N. is some sort of a dessert once a week after the kids go to bed. It's usually pretty random and decided on via I.M. depending on what we're in the mood for and how fat we feel that day. (On fat days, D.D.N. is a diet cherry limeade). 

In the middle of the winter this year, we decided that we wanted to do an extra-ambitious and extra-fun series of date nights. Now, because I am super secure with myself, I have no problem admitting that we love Harry Potter. When the Deathly Hallows book came out, I stood in line at midnight and bought two hardcover copies because neither one of us wanted to wait to read it second. This was during our days when we had a single, tiny income and it was hard to make ends meet. That's how much we love Harry Potter.

So, anyway, we decided to watch all eight movies and have Harry Potter themed desserts. And now you have to hear about it.

We started with rock cakes. These are really good. Kind of a cross between a cookie and a scone. 

Next we did pumpkin pasties. Delightful.

I decided cauldron cakes (which were not described in detail in the books) were like black bottom cupcakes. Except for that I used a cake that wasn't dense enough and ended up with white bottom cupcakes. Oh well.

Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Bean. I would rather eat uncooked entrails than repeat this experience. 

Licorice wands (Okay, so this is just licorice, but if I dipped it in white chocolate, it would have just looked like a magician's wand - not a wizard's wand. I'm really going for authenticity here). 

Treacle tart. This one was a delicious surprise - sweet, citrus-y, amazing. 

Chocolate Frogs. Ron was right. The cards are the best part. 

And, last but not least, butterbeer. It goes down so smooth, you don't even notice it has a zillion calories. 

Our Harry Potter D.D.N's have been some of my favorites. Are Chris and I huge, giant geeks? Yeah, pretty much. That's why we enjoy each other's company so much. All I need to be completely content is Chris and enough spare change in the couch cushions for two packs of M&M's. 

Jumping Back into Life - Ears First

Who doesn't enjoy a lovely Easter celebration?

This year, Easter had special meaning as we remembered Grandma Carol. It was wonderful to go from mourning to celebration because that is really what Easter is all about. 

Since we had been out of town almost all week, our celebration was small and simple this year. Nevertheless, we still managed to fit it all in. 

We dyed eggs.

We layed out the obligatory Easter loot.

And the girls came down in the morning, delighted to find that it had rained candy in the night.

Notice how they went straight to the bunnies. There's a reason for that. Mama don't buy no Palmer bunnies. That is 7 oz. of Lindor chocolate right there. 

Even though it was just the two girls, we had a low key egg hunt. (Or as low key as Jane and Emily get.)

Both girls were pleased with their haul. I was pleased to be able to spend some time in the sunshine.

And then, finally, the girls got to put on their Easter dresses and go to church. Emily's dress represents hours of shopping and what seemed like thousands of dresses tried on in the fitting room. My mom says it's payback for my girlhood days. I say that she can take Emily next year.

We had the usual Easter dinner - ham, potatoes and key lime pie. (And this is where anyone who's not Chris stops reading because my blog just graduated to super boring.)

I must add how lovely it was to do something so normal. To remember that life goes on even after tragedy. No matter how bleak things may seem, renewal is always just around the corner. I love Easter.

A Rememberance

Last week Chris' mom finally ended her long struggle and returned home. We are grateful that she is no longer in pain, but we will miss her. This Easter, we are grateful to have the knowledge that Christ conquered death and that Grandma Carol will too.

Chris and I spent several days going through pictures of her and creating a memorial slide show (which I won't attach here, since it is close to 20 minutes in length, but please feel free to ask for a copy if you want one). It was both wonderful and sad to spend this time remembering her.

As we started to go through her pictures, it really stood out how beautiful Carol was throughout her life. It's easy to see where Chris gets his looks from, as well as where my children get their flowing blond locks.

No wonder Carol was always happiest when spending time with her grandchildren. She was so proud of them. Coworkers and friends who had never met Emily and Jane instantly recognized them at the funeral. Partly because her house and work space were covered with pictures of them and partly because the family resemblance is so strong.  (I, on the other hand sometimes am asked if I'm my children's aunt). 

Carol worked for many years as a reference librarian. She loved books. Every Christmas and every birthday, she would either deliver or send a bag of carefully selected books for the kids. She made it a point to research the highest rated children's books and to get recommendations from her librarian friends before giving the kids books. We will miss her wonderful selections and treasure all the stories she's shared.

I don't remember Carol ever being prouder than when Emily began reading to her. She has passed on a love of reading to our kids. Emily can often be found well past bedtime with her book light on, absorbed in a book. 

Carol was a great mom to Chris and his brother, Brian, teaching them all the important things: Love the Lord, honor your elders, get a good education, and always put family above all else. 

Carol was fortunate to have Walter by her side through it all. He has been her husband and companion for 44 years and in the last 6 months, he has spent nearly every waking minute with her, easing her pain, providing care, and being her tireless companion.

Carol will always be loved, remembered and missed. We look forward to the day when we will see her again.

Wintry Mix

Last week, we went to the annual ice festival. The city created giant sledding hills in the middle of downtown. The kids had fun sledding and roasting marshmallows until... well, they didn't have fun anymore, which is what typically happens when we do something fun.

(Here Emily and her signature day-glow pink earmuffs are standing in line to go down an ice slide. Was it worth the wait? She must have thought so.)

It was pretty cool while it lasted. 

On another note, Chris has started a new job. He is working for the state military department as a civilian engineer. His job has something to do with working with contractors on facility upgrades. If he told me more he'd have to kill me. Not really, but it sounds cool. It is less pay, he had to leave a job he loves, and we really miss being able to work in the same building. However, it has brought a lot of peace for him and for our family and we are very happy he has this opportunity. The DOT has filled his old job with one of the most capable engineers I know, which made the transition much easier on Chris' squad members and, thus, on Chris. 

The most awesome part of his new job is that we still get to see each other for breaks and lunch since he is right across the street (here "across" means about a third of a mile away). That means we can meet in the middle and go for a walk a couple times a day (which lately has taken place in a blizzard - come on spring! hurry up!). 

Incising a Riot

For the last couple years Emily's classmates have been losing more teeth than they do in an episode of "Moonshiners". Emily has felt left out. No making it on the lost tooth board at school, no gap toothed smile, no lisp.

Last week that all changed when Emily finally had a wiggly tooth. After a good bit of effort, she pulled it herself. She would let neither Chris nor I touch it. She came running out of the bathroom, blood streaming down her chin, a gory tooth in hand and an exultant spring in her step.

It being bedtime, she wanted to make sure she was fairly compensated for her dental loss. Now at our house, we don't believe in the tooth fairy. It's just too silly. So this note, although addressed to the tooth fairy, was really for Chris and I.

(Dear Tooth Fairy, 

I lost my first tooth and I will have candy or money.)

We put her to bed, but as we were getting ready for bed, we heard a ruckus in the hall. We opened our door to find this note along with her lost tooth pillowed on a strip of toilet paper. She wanted to make sure we didn't forget. 

We didn't forget. I'm not sure what the going rate for a tooth is, but Emily awoke to a buck and a roll of Smartees she forgot to eat from her Halloween stash. She decided that was ample compensation for the pain and suffering of losing a tooth. 

She still has a few too many teeth to be featured on Moonshiners, but tooth #2 is already starting to wiggle. One down, nineteen to go!

One Man's Floor is Another Man's Weekend

Last weekend was one of those rare times when we get a day off for a holiday that requires no action on our part. No baking of class cookies, no purchasing of presents, no preparation of a giant meal or out of town guests. So we decided to celebrate in the way that Home Depot suggests - by putting in a new floor.

Here is the before shot. Notice the slightly pinkish linoleum. What the pictures don't show is the scarring that has come from eight years of living with said linoleum. It was a treat for the eyes, let me tell you.

This renovation idea was all well and dandy until the day before our project started. I got a miserable cold. But in our family, we don't let that kind of thing stop us. So while the cold was killing my nasal passages and stalking Chris, We tore out the unsightly linoleum. There now. Isn't this better?

Then we covered the entire floor with orange wires that promised to keep our cold feet warm even on the worst winter day. 

Then we covered that with some orange junk. Something about uncoupling the tile from the subfloor and independent movement. I'm just the unskilled labor here.

                                      

Finally, Saturday night saw the laying of the first tile. It was considerably later on Saturday night than originally planned and we were both really starting to feel the effects of that darn cold virus. 

Nonetheless, we worked all night. From the placement of this picture, I can tell you that it was about 1:00 a.m.. We worked until 3:30 a.m. when we realized we were officially too stupid with exhaustion to measure tile anymore. I heartily apologize to the next owner of our house in the event they tear out the trim behind the fridge and realize the tile is cut a bit short. I was tired. Mistakes were made. Mostly by me. 

But by Monday night, we once again had a functioning kitchen. This is my favorite moment - the dishwasher being replaced. Let me tell you, after 5 days of cooking on the grill and in the microwave and having to resort to doing dishes in the bathroom sink, this was a beautiful sight.     

                                

And then we were done. Kind of. There's still a bit of trim work for us to do. And by "us" I mean "Chris". I am after all banned from caulk products since the Harney Street bathtub incident of 2004. But we won't talk of that.

Here's our lovely new travertine floor with a marble medallion. (And by the way, those orange wires under the floor are delightful).

Thanks, Chris for an adventure in tiling. Also, thanks for making everything an adventure.

A Chilling Tale

This past weekend requires documenting. Unfortunately, the only pictures that exist are a couple of overly backlit cameraphone shots that could be either of us or bigfoot. It's impossible to tell.

Chris and I like to get away for our anniversaries. Even if it's only one night. Even if it's two weeks after the fact. This year, we found ourselves more stressed out than usual. I was long on work and short on vacation time. The prospect of driving 450 miles to get away for 36 hours seemed a bit daunting. We almost decided not to go this year. But we did it anyway. Why? Because it's important. Because we have the kind of marriage that's worth putting effort into.

We dropped off the kids with my parents (thank you so much Mom and Dad! We owe you BIG!) and went to Salt Lake. We froze our butts off in single digit temperatures trying to catch some of the downtown ambiance. We drank not one, but two, hot chocolates within an hour so that we didn't die of hypothermia. We ran to our dinner reservation after we discovered that running restored blood to our limbs. We ate over-hyped mediocre yet trendy food while we laughed at the uppity couple sitting next to us. We finally gave in to the demands of our frozen fingertips and noses and drove to a movie that was less than a mile away. We end-of-season clearance shopped our hearts out on the way back to RS and we ate a number of Mrs. Field's cookies which shall remain undisclosed.

We had a fantastic time. Thank you Chris for being the kind of person that makes every trip to the outlet stores and every meatloaf sandwich an experience worth remembering for the rest of my life. I love you!