Looking…

Back…

2012 was not a good blogging year for me.  We had a number of changes occur in our lives which I could have blogged about, but I was wrapped up in living them, not writing them.  So here’s the year in review.

January – tutoring for the year begins.  Had a ton of fun with my students.

February – I decided to try my hand at becoming a health insurance agent.  I took the training and got licensed.  Then I remembered I hate doing sales.  That was a bust.

May – my car got totaled and we replaced it with a newer one.

June – one of our closest couple friends got married.  Kris was best man and Dru was ring bearer.  Much fun was had.

July – HamJam #10 and our decision to move to Michigan.

August – the move to Michigan and Kris’ aunt’s wedding.

September – school starts for.  First time working out off the house FT every day in almost 2 years.  Dry gets to hang out with his papa all day.  Kris begins working from home.

October – Kris’ birthday and our 5th anniversary.

December – lots of birthdays, including Dru’s 3rd.

…Forward

Looking forward to 2013, it also promises to be a busy year.  My sister introduced me to loom knitting, so I’m going to be trying my hand at that.  On top of that, school starts back up on Jan 7th.  It’s crazy how many times I see kids I know at the grocery store now.

Dru is getting bigger and smarter everyday.  Hopefully he’ll be potty trained soon.  He’s almost got peeing fully down, just not pooping.  We’re considering preschool of some kind just to give gin some socialization, but not sure yet where.

Kris should be finishing his degree in the fall and I’ll be going back to further my education at that point.

So big things are in store for this year, and I hope to be better about updating, but I make no promises.

Hope everyone had a happy and healthy year in 2012, and we’ll see you in 2013!

Mourning

How do you explain to a 2.5 year old the concept of death?

While getting ready to go to our dear family friend Terri’s memorial service, I tried to find a way to explain to Dru what was going on.  Then I realized that my sister-in-law had given me the perfect explanation.

Saturday, when Kellie was sitting at the table upset over the news, Dru came up and the following conversation ensued.

Dru: “Aunt Kellie, you’re sad.”

Kellie: “Yes, Dru, I’m sad.”

Dru: “Did you bump your head?”

Kellie: “No, my heart hurts.”

Dru: “Oh, my heart hurts too Aunt Kellie.  Hugs?”

As we were heading out the door, with Dru all dressed in his navy suit for the memorial this evening, he asked where we were going.  I told him we were going to see Uncle Keith and that he would need hugs.  Dru asked if he was sad, and I said yes, like Aunt Kellie, his heart hurts.  He then asked if everyone here’s heart hurt, and I told him yes, because Aunt Terri went away and wasn’t coming back.  He told me he was sad too, and when we got there, gave Keith big hugs.

 

I don’t know if this is the recommended way that we’re supposed to handle death with a toddler, but it seemed to work for him.  It was something he could wrap his brain around, and the empathy he showed was very sweet.  Despite the fact that we’ve had no trouble at bedtime (or in the night) for the past month or so, it took him about an hour and a half to fall asleep tonight.  He kept telling me he was sad and that I needed to come back.  I think he picked up on all the emotions that the many people at the service were feeling.  He was super sweet to those he knew, but you could tell he was picking up on the general sadness.

 

On behalf of our family, Terri, you will be missed and always loved.  You touched many lives, and the turnout today just confirmed that for everyone.

Settling in

So it’s been awhile again.

We’re pretty much all settled in.  We had a heck of a time with the move, and a big shout out to my Dad for being there to bail us out.  So here’s what happened.

We drove up to Michigan and attended Kris’ aunt’s wedding.  Had a ton of fun and took a number of pictures.  Sunday, we left Dru and Sparky with my in-laws and went back to the IL apartment.  We spent Sunday night packing, and Monday around noon picked Dad up at the train.  We then spent the rest of Monday (until we went to dinner at Texas de Brazil!!!!  YUM) packing and all of Tuesday.  Wednesday morning we drove one town south to pick up our moving truck.  Dad had reserved it for us back in June, and we arrived just after 8 to pick it up.  When we got to the location, we couldn’t see a truck at all.  In my desire to be done with the move, I managed to convince myself that they were somehow hiding a 20’+ truck around back.  When we walked in to the generic rental place, the guy behind the counter looked baffled when we said we were there to pick up a truck.  After some (SLOW) searching, he informed us that he had no truck, and didn’t know when the one that was supposed to be ours was going to be back. After a few choice words, Dad called Budget’s rental line.  The rocket scientist he talked to informed him that the reservation does not guarantee equipment, just a price, and that they reserve the right to substitute equivalent equipment.  Looking around the store, we wanted to know how a chocolate fountain and a brad nailer were going to help us in our 200 mile move.

So I got on the horn with Ryder and Dad called Penske.  Ryder apparently doesn’t do one-way moves at all.  So as long as Penske had a truck, they were automatically going to come out ahead of the game.  They did, and we ended up driving 20 minutes north of the apartment to get it, and then back south of the apartment to get the pads and hand truck.  BUT WE GOT THE TRUCK.  FINALLY.

We get back to the apartment around 10:30, two hours later than planned, and start loading.  By the time we were done loading, it was about 9pm.  But we’d packed all the lights and bedding, so we made for MI.  We got to MI around 2:30 (actually made pretty decent time) with only a small scare about 30 miles from the house, because the check engine light in the truck came on.  We stopped and let it sit for a few minutes and drove the last bit in.  The next day, unloading was a lot easier, and we had extra hands to help as well.

Friday, Kris and I decided to go and get our licenses switched over, because mine had expired on my birthday, and so I wasn’t able to drive.  We went down to the Secretary of State (SoS) and were all ready to go.  Upon arriving, we learned that the SoS only takes MasterCard and Discover.  We only carry Visa and AmEx.  So we spent a good amount of time getting that squared away, and finally apply for our licenses.  We couldn’t switch our plates over until we switched our insurance, so that would have to wait for another day.

Now since the Monday after the move, Kris has been working remotely, and it’s going great.  Well, he decides it’s probably a good idea to get a Michigan number for both of our cell phones, so he goes online to Cricket’s website to change the number.  We’d already changed our address.  When he does so, they assign him a new number with the old 224 area code.  So he calls them to find out why.  They explain to him that since they don’t offer monthly service in our area, they can’t assign him a local number.  And since our phones aren’t compatible with the service they do offer in the area (monthly prepaid) they shut off his phone.  When he asks them to turn it back on at the old number so he can finish out the workday, they say he needs to go to the closest Cricket store – in Michigan City, IN – about 2 hours from the house.  So he takes some PTO and goes to Best Buy.  We now have local numbers and Virgin Mobile.

About a week after all this, we get our licenses in the mail.  Everything looks great – except one thing.  They switched our signatures.  So Kris’ signature is on my license, and vice versa.  So we go in after work that week and file for corrections.  The lady at the SoS told us that we didn’t have it as bad as the gentlemen who’d come in earlier with an error on his license.  He’s an older heavily bearded man, and his license had “F” in the gender field.  Since we were there, and had gotten our insurance switched over, we took care of our plates as well.  Yesterday, we finally received our corrected licenses, and we’re all good to go.

Other than Budget and Cricket being stupid, it hasn’t been too bad.  We’re pretty much settled in and Dru is having a couple issues.  He keeps telling us he wants his old house back.  But it’s happening less often.

In positive news, Dru has been sleeping SOOOOO much better here.  Maybe it’s the lack of noise and light outside his window, maybe it’s the lack of stress on Kris and I manifesting, or maybe it’s the Brown Bear, Brown Bear wall decals that my in-laws decorated his room with.  Whichever combination of reasons has brought it about, I’m good with it.

In conclusion – I HATE MOVING.  And Budget sucks.  So does Cricket.

Moving pt 2

So phase 1 of the move is complete – Kris is in his last week working in the office, Dru and I arrived at the in-laws yesterday, and we’re getting all the small stuff taken care of.  Sunday, Kris and I head back to IL to pack up the apartment.  Daddy arrives Monday to help us out, and we’ll have all our crap with us come the end of next week.

Next phase:  find a place we want and can afford.

Moving

As many of you may have heard, we’re moving to Michigan right after my birthday.  This is happening for a number of reasons, and we’re really excited about getting to Michigan.  The biggest problem is that I HATE MOVING.  With a fiery passion.

Oh well, we’re in the process of packing up the apartment and getting it all taken care of.  Because the few weeks between now and then are going to fly by.

Have I mentioned I hate packing?

HATE.

So if anyone is willing to pack our apartment for us – I’ll pay you in baked goods.

Jamming

HamJam 2012 has now come and gone. It was the 10th one, and also happened to coincide with a number of milestones. There were people hitting different decade marks for both birthdays and anniversarys, so on top of the usual celebrations, we got to fete them all.

Despite the fact that it was about 1 million degrees outside, we had a good turnout.  There was a water fight, food, and music.  Dru actually got to run around playing this year, and he was loving it.  It was a nice ending to our almost 2 week trip.

Playing in the water table during HamJam

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was also the first time Dru fully slept through the night in about a month.

And of course, the night before, my parents provided for LobsterFest2012.  We initiated a couple of new people into the club this year, and I really do like watching people try and learn to crack open a lobster!  There was much carnage – though Dru still refused to try any.

The carnage

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also got Dru his first ice cream cone – which was actually mine, just HUGE.  I ordered myself a medium, expecting something much smaller than what I received.  Raspberry ice cream with sprinkles (the closest I could get to my favorite combo).  Since it was ginormous, Dru got to share with Mommy.  He LOVED it.

Dru helping with my ice cream cone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And to round out his week of firsts, Dru saw his first fireworks show.  We took him to the local display on the 3rd, and he was immediately entranced.  To the extent that both Kris and I have downloaded fireworks applications on our phones for him to enjoy.  His face when the first burst went off was classic.

WHOA! FIREWORKS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a good vacation.  If only it had decided to be a bit cooler, and Dru had been sleeping reliably, it would have been perfect.

Celebrating

We’ve had a busy month or so.  Kris was best man in a wedding the last weekend in June up by his parents.  We drove up a few days before and settled in for almost two weeks.  Not only was Kris best man, but Dru was the ring bearer.  This meant that we bought his little behind a tux and vest to match Daddy and got him all snazzed up.  The bride and groom are super sweet people, and got him a basket of goodies for being ring bearer (including a Brown Bear from Eric Carle’s Brown Bear, Brown Bearbook).  My only complaint about the process of finding Dru a tux was that no one apparently sells plain back socks for little boys.  Instead, we ended up getting him *mostly* black socks – that happened to have a skull & crossbones on them – oh well.  But he was wicked cute in his tux, and (surprisingly) made it completely down the aisle.

You try convincing a 2.5 year old that all this is necessary clothing in 100 degree temps.

Dru with his tux, flower, and Brown Bear.

The biggest issue with the wedding was that it was about a million degrees outside.  But, the tried and true parenting technique of bribery prevailed here.  We found a candy bowl, and right before I sent Dru down the aisle, I told him that if he brought Daddy the pillow, he would get a piece of candy.  I then tried to tell him to walk.  Well, he made it about halfway down the aisle before busting into a run.  But at least he didn’t turn around screaming like he did at the rehearsal.

All in all, the wedding was beautiful, and it was great being there for their wedding.  On top of it, both Kris’ and my parents were there, so Dru got to spend time with both sets of grandparents and both aunts.

Thanking

Yes, it’s a bit late.  November was a bad month for my blog.  Through a combination of being busy and being lazy, I didn’t update as much as I planned.

I had two interviews in November.  One I’m waiting to hear back on (the phone interview was the day before Thanksgiving) and the other, while I thought it went well, was a bust.  Ah well.

Dru needed another haircut and is now talking in mostly comprehensible sentences.  He’s also plowing ahead on potty training and will tell me that he needs to go about once a day.  Usually it’s AS he’s going…but hey, we’re getting there.

The weather stayed warmish, so we spent as much time outside as possible.

I discovered a series by an author that I love that somehow I’d missed in the past and began reading it – it has something like 20 or 30 books in it, so I’m plowing my way through those.

I’ve been tutoring like a crazy person (Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Sunday) and enjoying that.

Plus, I’ve taken more responsibility on at the church – I’m about to become Secretary for the Women’s Group and have started assisting with Sunday School.

So when I’m actually in the house, the blog is near the back of my focus.

But I am thankful for being so busy – it makes time fly, and keeps my weeks from just being me sitting on the couch in my jammies watching Dru play.

And I’m thankful for our families.  They’ve been nothing but supportive of us, and understanding.  My poor Dad gets a phone call from me almost everyday because there’s only so much that I can take of toddler speak without needing to hear another adult.

 

On more specific news – Thanksgiving was a ton of fun.  We went up to the in-laws and got to see family.  And on Saturday, we drove down to Toledo and visited more family, and the Toledo Zoo for the Lights Before Christmas event.  It was pretty neat, and Dru is a big fan of the zoo in general.

And now, since I know you all really come here for the pics 😉 – here they are!

 

Pirate Dru prepares for Turkey

 

Driving Aunt Kellie

Coloring with Grandma Lin

Aunt Brenda and Uncle Steve gave us a dancing, singing Frosty. "He's CUTE!"

"Hi Saur. How You?" Though he did think it was an armadillo at first...

December is another busy month for us.  This weekend is our town’s kickoff to the holiday season with tree lightings, Dickens, etc.  Next weekend is the Advent Tea and Cookie Exchange and induction as Secretary.  The weekend after is the Christmas Cantata service.  Then it’s Christmas – we’re hosting, so that’s always busy.

And we’re having Dru’s birthday party a couple of days after Christmas, so that my family can be here for it.  What’s gonna be fun there is this year I’m doing a dino cake for Dru.  My mother-in-law used to bake cakes, and has a ton of cake pans.  So while we were there for T-day, I snagged the dino pan and she’s gonna bring all her decorating tools to get that square.  I’m excited, this’ll be the first time I make a cake that isn’t just a square or circle and standard frosting.  Thankfully, the moms will be there to make sure that I don’t mangle it too horribly.

Ah well, Happy December everyone!

 

Banking

So pretty much everyone in this country is aware of all the changes banks are making to their fee schedules, etc.  Well, Kris and I have been watching the commercials too, and are super glad that we recently made a change.

Up until the last month or so, we had been with Bank of America our entire married life (almost 4 years).  Before that, I had been with them since they bought my old bank (same account I’d had since I was knee-high to a duck).

Well, after many recurring issues with them, the most recent being that they froze our account when we were travelling to Michigan (which we do A LOT) and thusly bounced our rent check, we decided to switch.  It didn’t help that since we were on vacation that week, when the rent bounced, we had to pay an extra $200 in late and bounce fees to the complex due to timing and then the bank refused to refund us ANY of the fees, despite our long history with the bank.

So, after meeting with Jan, one of the ladies in my networking group, Kris and I decided to move our accounts over to American Chartered Bank.  They are a small Chicago local bank, but so far, they rock socks.  We have the direct line for Jan, so when we have an issue, we can call her directly.  They’ve already implemented the remote deposit thing that some of you may have heard of.  It’s the thing where you can take a picture of both sides of your check with your smartphone and have it deposited to your account.  Their accounts are free (unless you overdraft) and because you have a person you deal with regularly, if they see that you have your car payment about to come through, but are short, they’ll make sure it goes through (you will get a fee for that, but they won’t bounce it, which many of the big banks are now doing).

It’s been a great experience so far, plus we don’t have fees for our debit card (which BoA is about to implement) or our account.

With all of the announcements of banks screwing over their customers, we’re happier than ever that we’ve switched.

 

And as my little political rant related to this:  you want change, this is how to make it – move your business.  If you don’t approve of the way a business is being run, don’t give them your business.  It worked in the 60’s.  And despite the bad press that idiots gave the theory in the past few years by trying to convince people that refusing to buy gas from one company for one day would work (it doesn’t, it needs to be a long-term effort), removing ALL of your business from a company will have an impact.  And while I may not have a huge account with BoA, if many many customers move their business, it will have an impact.

Same theory applies to voting.  Don’t just vote for someone who is the big candidate.  Vote for the person you actually WANT to vote for.  As long as you cast your vote it isn’t wasted.  And the only way to make change happen is to ACTIVELY be a part of change.  Don’t just talk, DO.

Fairing

Yes, I was being punny, and yes, I know that “fairing” is not a word :-p

 

Anyway, we headed up to Michigan and went to the Michigan Ren Faire in Holly on Saturday.  It was a bit muddier than we could have wished for, and when the wind kicked up, it was definitely a bit chilly, but overall it was a gorgeous day.

Dru’s costume came out super cute:

Mams found a cape!

And of course he was loving that Papa was around (and dressed as a pirate!)

When we got to the Ren Faire, we met up with Aunt Kellie, Uncle Andy and Andy’s parents.  The mud was everywhere (my poor dress…) but Dru did really well.  He stayed close to us, and didn’t have any really bad moments.  He got to play with different animals that were running around (mostly dogs) but I think his favorite moment was probably when he got to go on a pony ride!

Of course, up until this weekend he was calling horse “HEEEES” (his version of their noise) but on Saturday, he started calling them “HORZ!!!!”  we’re getting there.  And somehow, we managed to choose the troublemaker pony, who kept trying to eat my skirt and reach around to get petted by Dru.

But little man had fun (screamed like a banshee when I made him leave) and had an overall good day.

 

 

 

On a separate note, he seems to be getting back to sleeping more now that his ears feel better.  That and the baby doorknob thinger that means he can’t break out of his room help.