Some pictures from our wonderful summer 2010

Slacker

1. 

Yep, that's me. Total slacker. I haven't posted a thing for ages and so much has happened I'm not sure where to start!

We had a wonderful summer. Truly the most memorable summer as a family so far. We went "home" to butler, PA after a 10 year absence and every single thing about it was glorious! We drove to DC first, and stayed a few days with my cousins Kathy and Craig, got to see family the girls have never even gotten to meet, and saw all of the fantastic things we wanted to see. The National Zoo, the monuments (Lincoln's was a special favorite---what a hero he is to me), the Air and Space Museum, the Museum of Natural History. Really, spectacular memories were made and I am so grateful to Kathy and Craig for having us. We even rode the subway, a first for all of us!

Then it was off to PA. I do so love my hometown of Pittsburgh. My cousin Mary Lee graciously moved out of her house so we could stay there. It was so beautiful---even the air was sweet. We spent lots of time with my beloved Aunts and my uncle and my cousins...I am so very blessed to have the family I do. Patrik felt so welcome. And Emma even got to help make Marnie's famous chocolate sauce. I can't wait to go back! The memories made were truly priceless.

I was worried that the road trip would prove to be too much but the girls were great the whole way. The scenery was gorgeous. It was an adventure!

When we got home we spent a day at a water park to make up for Laura missing out on that for her birthday thanks to a broken foot courtesy of a skateboard (that's twice a skateboard has injured on of my children--no more skateboards!). And finally we all went to see the Jonas Brothers and the cast of Camp Rock in concert. We have never been able to do so much in one summer and as I look back at this year, I can honestly say it was a stellar year for us. I am getting ready to frame a bunch of pictures of this memorable summer and just going thru them brings me back there.

Then summer was over. And Emma started kindergarten! I don't know how it has happened that this little buddy of mine has grown up so fast. I walked away from her that first day with a lump in my throat. Then she did the most amazing thing: she excelled! She loves it, is doing wonderfully, and all my worry was for naught. I am so proud of all of my girls. They work hard and do the right thing and I am blessed all over again!

So now it's the week before Thanksgiving 2010. I am reflective, lately, of all I have. I am a lucky woman in every sense of the word. I take nothing for granted. My boys are doing well, my daughters are terrific, my mom and brothers are healthy, my marriage is happy, my job is perfect, my friends are the best people I know. It is so easy to get caught up in the day to day. To forget all that we HAVE and instead focus on all that we WANT. It has occurred to me that I want for nothing. Nothing. I do not have fancy cars, a big house, fame or fortune. I have this---this lovely life. And believe me when I tell you it is everything.

Truly, simply everything.

The beginning of things

It occurred to me the other day as I sat reading Elizabeth Berg's new novel "Home Safe" (lovely, as I find all of her work) that I have never told the girls the story about how their dad and I met. And then I went on to realize that I wasn't even sure about how MY parents met. I think this is important. It reminds children that mom and dad were young once, that things weren't always about paying the bills and keeping the house in relative order, about who should do the dishes next or when the oil in the car needs changed. Every happily married couple had a starting point. A point when there was looking at each other through eyelashes and blushing at compliments or secrets revealed. A point where simply holding hands was the pinnacle of bliss. A point where you realize that this may actually be the ONE.

I worked at a touristy shop off the lobby of the La Concha Hotel on Duval St in Key West. I didn't work FOR my dad, but he was the general manager of the hotel itself so I saw him occaisionally. Patrik, however, DID work for my dad. He was a bellman. I had noticed him from time to time, in his shorts and La Concha polo. The longer I worked there, though, I NOTICED him. And I knew my dad would not think well of my being attracted to someone that worked for him. Still, some things just are what they are.

I spent my days in nursing school. I had NO intention whatsoever of getting into a relationship. I was there to get thru school and return to Jupiter. I had needed my parents help to do this...full time college was impossible on my own. I worked in the gift shop part time on some evenings and some days on weekends. It was these days that I saw Patrik more often and began to realize that I was looking forward to seeing him. I figured he had no idea who I was. We didn't work for the same people and only bumped into each other in the break room. As time passed I got brave. Really brave, for me. One day I left a note on his podium that I would like to get to know him better but that he probably shouldn't let on about it, since, you know, dad and all. I was nervous but giddy at the same time. I kept peeking out from the gift shop so I could see him read that note. My palms sweat. My heart pounded. Would he just throw it away? Think I'm nuts? Be unable to place who I was?

But no. None of these. He read the note, and his face lit up like Christmas day. Huh. I ducked back into the gift shop and wondered what would happen next. Later that afternoon Patrik walked into the shop adn I felt myself turn 10 shades of blush. The other girls I worked with were grinning so hard I thought their faces would crack. Patrik serenely asked me if I coud take a break and my coworkers practically pushed me out the door.

This was the beginning. We talked and laughed and I blushed some more. We agreed that dad probably shouldn't know, at least right away. I didn't want Patrik to be treated any differently. We met after work for a few drinks at Rick's bar and started the slow task of getting to know each other. A few weeks later, when I realized what I had (a boyfriend! a serious one) I told dad and he said "It has to be someone who works for me?" and I grinned and said "Yeah." And of course it was fine.

Patrik was home to me like no other man had ever been. We certianly have had our moments. But ours is a hugely steady love. When I about 9 months from graduation and the prospect of moving back to Jupiter, I told him plainly that I would be leaving. That if he intended to join me, there must be a commitment involved. A ring. I had Chris to think about and I wasn't the type of person to just move in with someone. Less than a month later Patrik got down on one knee and proposed. We actually didn't intend to get married before we moved. But his mother was going back to Slovakia and we were unsure of when she would return. It was important to both of us that she was at our wedding. So a month before graduation, we were married in what I consider the best wedding I've ever been to. It was perfect. I wouldn't have changed a thing.

We started out like schoolkids, with the nerves and the hesitation and the whole getting to know you thing. Everyone does. It was glorious and I want the girls to know that. I was head over heels for their dad, and he was smitten with me (poor guy! LOL). We fit. Where I am laid back to the point of being carefree, he plans things and gets things done. Where I am perfectly happy being the neighborhood hermit, he is a social butterfly. But this one thing we have in sync- our family is unquestionably the most important thing in our lives. Not just the kids, but each other. Our parents and siblings. In this there is no divide. We are united.

It all started with a note. The rest, as they say, is history. And right here and now.

Ode to Julia

I have mentioned before that I was worried Julia would find Laura a tough act to follow, and that she has proven my worries uneccessary. She is a free spirited little girl with a quick snuggle and a quick and contagious laugh. When she started school she had to work for every grade and met the challenge even when she didn't want to. Her teacher called on Friday night and like every mom who gets a call from a teacher at home, my stomach dropped. I warily answered and was greeted by this: "I just wanted to call you to sing Julia's praises!" Hooray for you, Julia! Her teacher went on to tell me that she is SO proud of Julia, that Julia had come so far from the little girl we seriously considered giving another year in Kindergarten for fear of struggle. She proved us all wrong again. She deserves all the praise- the work has been her own. So here's to you, Julia Maria. You, darling girl, are simply a superstar! GOOD JOB!!!! I am busting with pride!

Champions

The touchdown that made it happen. Way to be, Holmes!

'Nuf said!

Memories of Dad

Living my own dream

This is an ode to my husband. He of sexy accent and cute smile and shared bathroom. God love him. I sure do. I married the first person that made me feel special when I was 18 years old. He went on to crush me in so many ways there is still evidence of my wariness now. BUT! He gave me two wonderfu sons who I simply love more than my next breath. I can deal with the history of Brian and I. If only to be glad in the being of Chase and Chris.

Then came Patrik. I think I may have seduced him...sort of. We had been giving each other the eye for a couple of weeks. He was a bellman at La Concha where dad was the Genereal Manager. I worked in the gift shop there, managed by someone else. We batted eyes at each other for awhile and then one night he came into the shop and asked me to take a break with him. We just talked, in a smoky hallway behind the kitchen. He told me he was from Slovakia and I swear I almost corrected him ("you mean Czecholslovakia..." ) but thank goodness I didn't (the country had split into Slovakia and Czech Republic in 1993). A week or two after our talk in the back hallway I left a note on his podium...it said in essence that I would like to get to know him better outside of work but not to tell anyone since his boss was my dad. I couldn't believe he wasn't fazed by that. Long story short, we dated, dad ended up loving him, and we married at a wonderful wedding in Key West on April 17, 1999. I loved my wedding. I had a ball. Patrik doesn't even remember it- he was so nervous. It was the last time I ever danced with dad. It was glorious. It was everything I ever wanted in a wedding. Seriously.

The first 3 years of marriage were HARD. Patrik had inherited two pre-pubescent boys that I spent much energy siding with. It was difficult at best. But we muddled thru. Went on to have beautiful Laura, Julia, and Emma. Lucky us.

Lucky us. We held on thru the tough stuff. And have somehow ended up here, at a place where I think we are both so blessedly comfortable and pleased with how things have turned out. We put up with each other on the bad days, and are completely smitten on the good ones. I just can't believe it sometimes. Does he drive me crazy? Hell yes! But I also know better than to judge on the stuff that makes me want to strangle. I watch him with the girls- his desire to snuggle, his jumping up and dancing with them on a whim during a great Slovak song, his passion for me always...he says "I love you" more than I do and I hope this stinginess of heart isn't a result of being so hurt before...I am working on this like you wouldn't believe. Because I DO SO VERY love him. He makes me laugh, he GETS me, he supports me, he adores my children. He's still cute, too! He is RIGHT for me. We balance each other. I am so damn grateful to have him. Even when I feel blinded by anger or frustration...I will not leave this...this is what I have been searching for my entire life. The thing I never thought I'd find. The thing I was too shy or too fat for. Patrik validates me in more ways than even I realize. Because despite the irritible bowel and the PMS and the pushy insistence to have things MY WAY! and my weight gain and easy tears and my unwavering liberalness...he's stayed. He's here. He is right now putting new locks and handles on the front door because the old ones were tarnished..not broken but tarnished...

*sigh*

He has been my hero more than a couple of times. He would die for my kids...all of them...even the ones that were breathing before I met him. He would sacrifice himself for mom and my brothers...he would shrink to an unrecognizble form of himself if anything happened to me.

He is my husband. And I am so full of gratitude that I found him. I cannot describe the way he looks at me sometimes...as if he's never seen me before...how does he do that? He is the prince charming of my adolescent dreams. Who knew I'd be lucky enough to really get him??!!

*sigh*

I know when to count blessings. When it comes to my husband, sometimes I count them twice.

Happy New Year.

*Happy Anniversay, Mom*