Just Like Heaven

"How far to heaven? Just open your eyes and look. You are in heaven" -Shankar

In May of 2008 Elijah and I went to Dublin. Amelia was nothing more than a possibility at the time so we left Asher home with his Granny and spent a week alone. Initially we had wanted to find another couple to travel with us. We had gone to Amsterdam and Brussels the year before with Elijah's brother and sister-in-law and really enjoyed sharing the experience with friends. This time, however, our schedule was pretty tight and we were unable to find anyone who could squeeze in a short notice trip. I was excited to have an entire week alone with my husband, but also nervous that we'd get bored or annoyed with each other. (Honestly, I was mostly nervous about him getting bored and annoyed with me as I'm not a very spontaneous and laid back person.)

We discussed a few sights we didn't want to miss, such as the Guinness Storehouse, Killmainham Gaol and an additional day trip to Kilkenny, but other than that, we really wanted to relax and take our time exploring Dublin. The weather was perfect. We had a full week without rain (other than the slight drizzle we landed in) and were able to really soak in the beauty of the public greens.

It was a perfect vacation in every way. We laughed at getting lost together. We planned our next day's adventure over long, quiet, child free romantic dinners. We finished bottles of wine, tasted gallons of beer, bought bizarre Irish junk food and gorged ourselves while watching random TV shows in bed.

This trip reminded us that, although we have both grown and changed throughout our nine years together, we are still so very much in love. There is not only familiarity and comfort in our relationship, there is also excitement and laughter. We can miss the train to Kilkenny and take a surprisingly unplanned excursion to a coastal city without being anything but happy to be doing it with each other. We can eat every meal together for a week and still have something to talk about. We still want to hold hands while walking down the street and are just as content laying in bed watching TV together as we were when we did it in our old dorm rooms.

Elijah is the love of my life; my perfect counterpoint. That week we spent together still serves as a reminder that my heaven: kisses me every morning before work, mows the lawn and takes out the trash, chases his children around the house, then lays down next to me at night.

In short, my heaven is wherever he is.


This post is written in response to a prompt from:



(I'm pretty sure it was last week's prompt but it's my first week following the prompts and I got all mixed-up with the timing. Rookie mistake.)

57 Channels (And Nothin' On)

A month or so ago, our family was "randomly selected" to complete a Nielson television survey. They offered to pay us $30 (the cash came in the envelope with the surveys!) and all we had to do was write down all the shows we watched for a week and send it in the following Friday. The surveys finally came last Tuesday so this past week I've been annoying everyone by pausing whatever they're watching so I can record it in our little booklet. (I've already spent that 30 bucks by the way so I've felt a real sense of duty about this.)

Here's what the good people at The Nielson Company got for their $30:

• One episode each of, Top Chef, Boston Med, Design Star, Wipe Out, Tosh.0, and Louie.
• Two episodes each of Law & Order (at least five years old, DVR'd on TNT) and The Next Food Star Network.
• Seven episodes of Unwrapped.

It was pretty annoying to write down the time and program info every time we turned on the television, especially if we ended up pausing something for any extended period of time. I'm sorry, but there are times when a 30 minute episode can take almost two hours to complete, and that even includes fast forwarding through commercials! I don't think I have to worry about it though. Based on our sorry surveys, I'm not sure they'll ever opt to use us again.

Eat For Two

Chester is starting to get fat; I'm mean he is really tubbing out.

I hadn't even noticed, as Chester has pretty much become the neglected child, it was Elijah who pointed it out. We had to board Chester when we spent the weekend house hunting in Austin and they charged us based on his weight. Well, Chester clocked in at about 24 pounds. Seemed small enough to me, but Elijah was quick to point out that, with Chester's normal weight being 20 pounds, he had gained about 20% of his body weight this year. And since I'm so bad at math, he had to add that that's like me gaining a little over 25 pounds. (And now you all, if you're better at math than I am, know how much I weigh!)

I could not understand how he was getting so fat. We haven't switched his food or how we've been feeding him. Everything seems basically the same as it's always been. We have always free fed Chester so he only eats his food when he's hungry.

I was musing about our fat little Westie the other day after dinner and the answer suddenly came to me...

Queen of Hearts

Here is yet another book turned movie. I swear that is not how I planned my reading list this year. However, after unpacking in our new place, I noticed that I had more books on my "to be read" bookshelf than shelves. I had to start reading the books I'd collected if I was ever going to be able to start buying books again. I don't have any particular system for choosing the next book. I usually think about what I read last and try to find something slightly different so I won't get bored with the subject matter or author. It's pretty much a gut instinct sort of process and apparently my gut has been wanting to read books that were recently made into movies. That or I'm extremely susceptible to movie advertising.

While I've already read quite a bit about the wives of Henry VIII, this book seemed to have a point of view that I hadn't thought of before. It explored how power hungry families used their young women to elevate themselves in the eyes of the King. I had never thought of that before. I guess I had read only from the context of my own life (such a narrow view, I know). But it never occurred to me that these women may not have wanted to be the next queen. This book portrays two sisters, one with an eye on the crown and one who was forced by her family into pursuing it against her will. I really enjoyed seeing a different side of a very familiar story.

How to Save a Life

I remember the exact moment that I decided to become a nurse.

The actual story is not quite as dramatic as that first statement, but it is true nonetheless. Elijah and I were in the Babies R Us parking lot. I had been working mid shifts as an SGML coder at Tinker Air Force Base and was absolutely miserable. I hated having to drop Asher off at daycare, even if it was only for a few hours. The pay was terrible and my morale was low. I wanted something different. Something that would work with the kind of family life that I envisioned for myself. A job that could also be a profession. Something with good pay and unconventional hours. I remember telling Elijah that I was going to go to nursing school.

To say he was surprised would be a pretty big understatement.

See, Elijah knows I'm a fainter. I've fainted while visiting people in the hospital. I've fainted while giving blood. I've got needle phobia and based purely on my history, I seemed the least likely candidate for nursing. EVER. But I'm also a realist. I'm a practical thinker and I knew that with nursing I could have everything: a professional career, steady employment, good income, and time for my family.

My main concern was that once I started nursing I wouldn't like Grey's Anatomy anymore.

Seriously.

While working on the prerequisites for an ADN program I spent a lot of time on nursing blogs and forums. I suppose I wanted to get the "skinny" on what it's really like to be a nurse. In my naivety I assumed that the medical dramas I watched religiously were only inaccurate about the attractiveness of the hospital staff, but of course I was wrong. A lot of these shows got crucified on the forums, not only for the beauty of their actors, but also for protocol inaccuracies, unrealistic diagnostic circumstances and a host of other minor discrepancies. I was scared. I worried that I would gain everything I'd ever wanted in life but lose my ability to watch sappy, over acted medical dramas.

I enrolled in nursing school, despite these seemingly irrational fears and this career has been everything I'd expected and so much more. I truly love my work. I never imagined that I'd enjoy working with hospital patients and their families so much. In school so many of the students talked about how they always wanted to be nurses, how they knew it was their calling. I felt a little intimidated by that, but was always honest about my reasons for joining the profession. I wanted to have it all: family life, a professional career and time for me. And in addition to all those things, I also got this profound feeling of accomplishment, capability and pride. I am not a perfect care provider, I don't know everything, but I love my job and I am a damn fine nurse.

And I still watch Grey's Anatomy every week.

Pictures of You

Alright I admit it. Sometimes, I am less than perfect. Sometimes, I don't do things that I know I should simply because the very idea of it is exhausting. Case in point, last week's trip to Pryor.

We were there for five days and throughout that week I believe I pulled out the camera twice. Yes, twice...for a total of 18 pictures. And that isn't even the worst part of it.

Our trip happened to coincide with a very important birthday. Asher's great-great-great Aunt Mattie turned 100 on July 7th which meant that there was even more extended family around than usual. Some of these family members we haven't seen in over six years! Did I take the opportunity to click lasting memories of everyone together or did I leave my husband's ridiculously bulky and socially awkward camera in the car? Bet you can guess the answer to that.

Elijah was non too pleased when I got home with "No photographs!!? You were there for a week, how could you have NOT taken pictures? What were you doing? I cannot believe we didn't get a single shot of Asher and Mattie at her birthday celebration..." I'm sure he could have gone on had I not cut him off with my remarkably well thought out excuse reason.

You see, about four or five years ago I had requested a new SMALL camera that would fit in my purse or pocket so that I could take snapshots without the hassle of lugging around his monstrosity. (I mean seriously, it is damn near impossible to carry his camera around my neck while holding Amelia and trying to Asher from rolling around all over the floor EVERYWHERE WE GO!) I researched what cameras I was interested in and even found some that came in very cute colors. He went out to make the purchase and came back with a bulky Kodak that could barely fit in my hand much less my pocket. At this point I would like to point out that we don't even use that stupid camera any more.

The camera situation isn't a problem when we are all together, or even if Elijah takes the kids somewhere alone, although recently he has taken a lot of potentially awesome shots on his iPhone which I believe, aside from Facebook, does us no good. He is an excellent photographer and has a stash of various "artsy" cameras that he always has handy. He usually take the pictures while I wrangle the kids. It's a system that works perfectly as long as both of us are present. Unfortunately this last week he was absent and it shows on our memory card. I did get a few shots though, and since you took the time to wade through this verbose post, I will reward you with the best ones.

Sombody's Watching Me

As I mentioned in my previous post, the kids and I spent last week in Oklahoma. Taking this trip was a big step for me. It has always seemed overwhelming for me to take Asher on trips alone. I remember, when he was much younger, how nervous I felt about taking him to the mall or park without Elijah. Add Amelia to the equation and it's an understatement to say that my panic level was unbearably high. It was a blessing that both children slept until almost 0900 giving me a chance to have a private, non rushed shower, and a full cup of coffee in peace.

Once they were up, I settled them in for breakfast and began to pack the last items into the car. While arranging Amelia's diaper bag in the back seat I noticed some movement. I froze and start quietly backing away. The car is loaded with stuff and I could only imagine what could be hiding between the snack basket and DVD player. (I'm starting to rethink the wisdom of watching that Animal Planet special on Burmese Pythons in Florida.) As I'm moving away, I catch a glimpse of a small grey lizard darting over the backseat.

At that point, I do what any normal girl would do: I call for a boy. Unfortunately, at six, Asher doesn't quite understand that boys are supposed to catch all the creepy crawling things while girls are only expected squeal and scream and generally make the process more difficult. He has no interest in crawling around the car trying to catch a lizard. He makes a few halfhearted attempts to find it and then suggests that we call Elijah.

I make the call, trying not to freak Elijah out. I mean, I'd hate for him to worry about his unbalanced, panic stricken wife taking his two darling children on a 450 mile road trip. I calmly ask what I assumed to be all the right questions.

"Will it bite me?"
"Can I scare it out of the car with a loud noise?"
"Where do YOU think it might be hiding?"
"Asher thinks you should come home, can you?"

Our attempts at flushing out the lizard were unsuccessful. I finally gave up and got everyone situated in the car. I drove those 450 miles in abject terror that at any moment our little stowaway was going to crawl up my skirt. Obviously, we made the trips there and back safely but we still haven't found that little bastard.

All Aboard for Oklahoma

I have next week off so I'm loading up the kids and heading out to visit our family in Oklahoma. Elijah has to work so he will be looking after Chester and puttering around the house in the evenings missing us desperately.

I hope to have something interesting to say when I get back next week but don't hold your breath. I'll probably just end up whining about how whiney the kids were. Gee Marina, I wonder where they get it from.

In My House

I really enjoyed Open House. It was light, easy reading with an even, steady pace. I would definitely be interested in reading some of Elizabeth Berg's other works.

This is a story about a woman whose husband has decided to leave her. They have a middle-school aged son and in order to support herself and keep their home, she decides to rent out rooms. This book is sweet. It explores the main character's transformation from a passive, sacrificing wife to an assertive, independent woman. There's nothing surprising or spectacular about the story, but sometimes that's just what I need. I enjoyed it and if you're in the mood for something light with an predictably sweet ending, you will enjoy it as well.

Home

Well, it happened this past Monday. We finally sold our home in Moore, Oklahoma.

Due to the drawn out drama that lead up to the closing, I was more relieved than sad to have that whole ordeal behind us. There was far more uncertainty in the process than I was comfortable with. However, in the end, and after two contract extensions, the original buyers were able to fund their loan and we are no longer paying for two homes.

Phew!

Now that the papers are signed and the funds wired to our bank, I feel like I can actually take some time to reflect on the five years that we spent in our second home. A little stroll down memory lane, if you will.

Initially, I was sad about selling the house. I wasn't sad about moving but I was sad about leaving our lovely home. I fell in love with that house the moment I set foot in it. I remember our first night there, laying on a blow up mattress because our furniture hadn't yet arrived, listening to the sound of train whistles blowing in the distance. While I didn't love everything about the structure of the house, (I thought the master bathroom was ridiculously small and I hated that we had to walk halfway across the house to get to the nearest restroom while watching a movie in the living room), I did however, love the life we shared together these past five years.

And so, to commemorate our years spent in our Oklahoma home, I put together this wonderfully sappy slideshow. Enjoy!