Team Wonderful

We never took down the blog. I sometimes thought it might be a good idea, but it seemed like a lot of work. So I didn’t. Rex-Goliath asked me tonight what a blog was. What better way to show him?

So maybe I’ll update.

Life is vastly different than it was three years ago. Insanely different.

Our kids are kids. Legit kids. Chloë is in middle school. MIDDLE SCHOOL. Rex-Goliath is in first grade. And Xavier (of whom is known as “The Babby” and shall remain The Babby until he is well into his thirties) is finishing up preschool.

We have had some good times. Three more Smell Ya Later School parties. One first annual Christmas party. We have made new friends in our cool little university neighborhood. We’ve moved on from Thomas the Tank Engine to Cars to Star Wars. We build with the little Legos now. Duplos are history. We are reading the Little House on the Prairie books because Mama read them as a child and the boys seem to like them.

Dan is going to graduate around the same time I do. Computer science. He likes to code and program and all that. He has a knack for it. He enjoys it.

I have six weeks left of didactic work before clinical rotations. I feel as if I have been presented with so much information in the past 3 years, yet remember nothing. Allegedly, you learn everything on rotations. I’m counting on that. I have tried to wring every last drop out of this pharmacy school thing. I work two jobs (best way to learn). I have a niece. I am heavily involved with an amazing student-run free clinic as well as a national organization for clinics of this type. I ran a 7K. I have aspirations and I’m leaving it all on the field.

This rock and roll lifestyle isn’t easy. We have 5 people in a 2 bedroom place. Dan is sometimes trapped with the kids for days because I am gone. The man does so much to make it easy for me to go to school. I sometimes go 48 hours without being able to cuddle with my kids. There are people I call family and friends that I never see. We are student loan living. With one car. We are making it work though. 

The end is in sight.

So is the beginning.

Aloha from Team Member Elizabeth, at the new house.
It feels a lot bigger than the “Ugly House” since it’s two levels, but the place is actually smaller. Didn’t stop me from joining the crew! I’ve made a cozy bedroom beneath the nearly-four-year-old’s bed, which is below the loft of the eight year old, and is next to the crib of the 17-month-old. We’ve all got our little places and, being the teenager, I admit it’s not terrible at all. I’m starting to like watching The Bachelor with Leah, eating “ice cream” sandwiches after the kids have gone to bed (don’t tell anybody I know!).
Dinners are quality time. Daddy’s hand might stop on you and turn you into the biggest Torcho in the world; the red sauce will possibly transform you into a teleportating zombie baby. Polenta may give you magical underwear powers and Garbage Meal could make you grow facial hair you have to shave after dinner. You really never know. The few things to expect are “I DON’T WANNA DO NAPKINS!” or “I wan’ big fork!” and of course “Dig in!” which cannot be said loud enough.
The trains are chugging along and everyone is still alive (for now)…..
Tah tah for now everyone.

As a family, we have plenty of weird rituals and quirky little activities. My favorite is Election Day.

I have a deep personal belief that voting is important. It is our right and our duty. If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain. This is one of the few things that I want to teach the kids.

So we drag them to the little Lutheran church down the road to breathe in some of that musty old-church air and do their civic duty (read: stand in a reasonably quiet manner, watch their parents vote, and let their parents think that they are reflecting on the importance of this day even if they are really mentally counting the number of SweetTarts left in their Halloween candy bags). They get their little red stickers, Mr. Wonderful and I vote for the most liberal candidates we can find (and thirty-three unopposed judges) – win-win!

Will the kids do this with their kids? I hope. Most likely, it will go down something like this:

Child: Daddy, where are you going?

Rex-Goliath: To go vote.

Child (whining): Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy? How long is that gonna take?

Rex-Goliath: Dude, stop whining. It could be way worse. My parents made me go with. And they took a family picture! You better count your blessings that Grandpa Dan and Grandma Leah aren’t your parents.

Dinner tonight: kids are too busy saying “fuck” around the dinner table to eat; the baby throws his soup bowl on the floor, clean it up; a three year old spills his orange soda all over the table, clean it up; a full quart of soygurt falls out of the fridge and spills all over the floor, clean it up; pour oneself a strong vodka Coke Zero and keep plugging along.

This is how it’s done rookies.