Baby, check this out, I've got something to say

Dance party in my living room =)

Picture book, Of people with each other, To prove they love each other...

12 days. After five months apart, we had only 12 days to be with each other as a family. I purposely left most of the days unplanned so that Scott and I didn't have to feel like we were racing from one thing to the next, but of course, it still felt like some tight programming and not enough relaxing was done. But this is what we did get to do:

Scott's arrival
Scott came in at about 10:30pm, Friday the 6th, and we just wanted to go home and sleep. Violet was already done for the night, so we knew that he wouldn't be able to see her much beyond just peering at her through the baby monitor. The next morning, Violet took maybe a minute to register that her Daddy was no longer in the computer box or the iPhone box or the disembodied voice in the phone and then the two of them just melted into a heart-breaking hug.

Daddy hugs

Several days in the Denver area

There were several things that Scott and I needed to take care of in preparation for the Wedding Celebration/We're Leaving for Japan party for next March. One was a cake tasting, where my parents and Violet joined to try out some yummy desserts and we also did a separate night of taste testing for the venue that we'll be using. 

In the middle of these taste tests was time for Scott and me to celebrate our 2nd anniversary. I had made arrangements to use the Denver Bike Bar (if you feel so inclined, read the FAQ page. It's funny) as a bar hopping helper. Since it was just the two of us in our "party", we were added onto another group, which was supposed to be a lot larger than it turned out to be. We found out that some of the people who were supposed to show were preoccupied with the fact that another in the party ended up in the ICU the previous evening. Scott and I never found out how she ended up in the hospital.So, even with just the 7 of us peddling, we still had a good time listening to the Reel Big Fish Pandora station on the 'bar's' speakers. We only got to ride to the Breckenridge Brewery and River North Brewery, but it was still a good time. Plus, I knew that with the "Explore Denver" package I got along with our hotel stay in Denver, we would be visiting more bars. Mitch and Marsha ended up joining us that evening and it was nice to catch up with them.

The Bike Bar

Breckenridge Brewery

Pagosa time
We did make it 'home' for 5 days so that Scott and I could not only relax in our house, but so that we could have Heather's good friend take our family portraits. It turned out soo great!! I know I've already posted some of the pictures on Facebook, but there were others and I'm already trying to figure out a great display of the pictures in our living room without being too showy. I took him to some spots around town, some good places to eat and mainly just sat on the couch and took a much needed breather together. We also got to celebrate Heather's birthday right before we had to skip town again for a couple days before Scott's departure out of Denver International Airport.

Back to Denver to finish things out
Scott and I did get to catch a Rockies game (vs Pittsburgh Pirates) and had fun walking around, grabbing some beers, watching most of the game before going on to a bar nearby to get out of the rain and we ended up waiting out a rain delay to watch a game that remained pretty tight on through the 9th inning. We also got to catch "Spiderman" (and "The Avengers" the week before.)

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So, that was 12 days. There were other errands we got to finish, like get Violet and Scott their passports, but it was really just a small, tiny taste of being a family again. The next time this will happen won't be until November for Thanksgiving, which I can already tell will take more planning and running around, this time in different states.

Here are more pics, for those who want more.

...and one more video... it couldn't load in the last post

You gotta jump, jive, and then you wail

I know this is going to be a weak post with written information. But, I will compensate (or at least try to to) with pictures and video. Here's hoping I get more time.... someday....

And when she dances, oh brother! She's a hurricane in all kinds of weather

This will be partly an update on life in Colorado and a small part will be an update on Violet. Since I don't really have a full fledged blog entry shaped in my head, I'm afraid this will be a short entry. I just wanted to write down something for Leap Year Day (or Sadie Hawkins Day, however you want to look at it.)

Scott and I arrived at our (my) new house in Pagosa Springs on Jan 22. We spent a good week blitz'ing the joint in setting up our furniture, unpacking big boxes and moving the containers of storage things into one of the MANY closets the house has. I do like my new place for its large kitchen, many closets and the many windows for lots of sunshine. The thing I can't stand? NO ONE SEEMS TO KNOW MY STREET EXISTS!!

I don't know how old my house is or how old the paved road is, for that matter. And, yes, I have to say "paved" road because apparently, that is a luxury in this town. Before I moved from Mountain Home, I filled out a fowarding address card for the post office so that I can get our family's mail. I already knew that the new house in CO did not have a mail box, so I called the Pagosa Post Office and explained the situation and tried to find out the process of how to open a post office box. As it turns out, I could not do this by phone or internet, but had to physically be there to fill out the paperwork. Fine. I then told them that I already had the fowarding address card filled out and to please hold my mail and NOT send anything back. They said, "sure."

The day after Scott and I arrived in the town (after two days of the worst driving experiences I've EVER encountered, not to mention this was while driving Scott's car and he driving a 24' truck with a trailer attached) I go to the post office to open the post office box. And it has been a friggin' nightmare since. This place has managed to let my mail collect in a pile a good week after I opened the new box and was told BY THEM that they would leave a note saying 34 Little Pine Lane mail goes to my PO Box. And then they claimed that the pile of mail was because I had a hold on it, which I specifically asked them to lift after opening the PO Box. And then, I'm missing a MASSIVE pile of magazines, personal mail and other whatnots, while only receiving 3 junk flyers and a catalog for 2611 when I am 2411. It took me 5 phone calls and then specifically asking for the supervisor to finally get any headway through this mess. I have yet to be home since speaking to the manager, so I have no idea whether or not they have made a dent in fixing the problem.

This has been the biggest "no one knows where I live" problem. A small one is that the Pizza Hut claimed to not be able to deliver me a pizza because they didn't know where my street was, and me explaining that I can SEE THEIR STORE FROM MY BACK PATIO gave me no benefit. I do eventually have to learn the names of the streets that are poorly labeled and be able to give directions, but for now I keep telling people, "it's where the new Wal-Mart will be built" and then they have a small inking of a clue. Evidently, that's a big scuttlebutt around these parts.

In the middle of all of this, Violet did turn 1 and we did celebrate, albeit in a small fashion. I do plan on posting the pictures of the party, but I have been at my home a total of 17 days since Jan 22, so I've been mostly discumbobled.

In other Violet news, she is trying out the thought of standing unassisted, though so far the record has been 5 seconds. She loves holding the iPhone up to her ear and then mine, but now really, really likes to hold the thing up to her ear while music is playing and takes the opportunity to dance. She does love clapping, has started to show a real understanding of comic timing and goes into a joyous fit when she sees her Daddy while we Skype on the computer or the phone.

In about a month, she and I will be flying out to NJ for my annual Met Home Opener tradition, and so that she can meet my friends. I truly hope it works out that I get someone to host a party for me so that I can gather a good majority of my friends in one place for one afternoon, otherwise I'll be missing a good number of people. There's no way I can make individual visits, and there's very little in compromising that. I do hope to introduce her to some authentic east coast food, but mostly, I hope that she and I survive our first flight without Scott. Needless to say, it's tons easier to have a set of parents for the one child, rather than the 1:1 ratio we'll have in late March. Luckily, it'll be a non-stop flight.

They say it's your birthday, We're gonna have a good time

It's been a year. A whole year. A year since Scott and I took our middle-of-the-night trip to the base hospital to get the Violet party started. It didn't actually start until the late afternoon on the 11th, but, eh, details =)

And to try to summarize the year would be nearly impossible. But I can tell you:

• Violet got to travel. A lot. More than I thought a little infant could. Approximately 21,083 miles. And in all of the traveling, there were only 3 flights, two of which were to Waco, KY to visit the in-laws
• She's already been to a wedding
• She has charmed every TSA agent and flight attendant she's ever met
• She's on her 3rd house in two different states
• She likes remotes and phones, and she loves music and I think she's starting to dance
• She LOVES this green blanket my Mom made for her and it seems to be her Linus blanket
• She's great at snagging glasses and already knows how to lay a well-placed back hand slap
• She waves to the world whenever she wakes up and loves to stick out her tongue whenever possible

There is so much more, but that's what I've got off the top of my head and I felt like I needed to jot down something to mark the little girl's first birthday. And tomorrow, we'll have my sister's girls over for cupcakes, Disney sing-a-longs and then a sleepover (mostly because my sister and her husband are going to a Valentine party).

Needless to say, Violet not only owned, but flourished during her first year on this planet. She's utterly amazing.

Christmas Eve will find me, Where the lovelight gleams, I'll be home for Christmas, If only in my dreams

 

As Christmas time nears and we contemplate what to do for our first Christmas with Violet, I've been thinking more and more about where I consider "home". Yes, it's where the heart is; yes, it's also where I hang my hat. But one of the questions often asked of where I'll be while Scott is in Thule is, "Oh, Colorado, is that home?" and the much longer response is far too involved to give to the casual conversationalist.

To me, home has to be 129 Wyckoff Ave, though it no longer exists. I lived 6 years in Japan, another 6 years in Fort Lee, but Wyckoff was where we spent the most time growing up and making the friends I still hold dear today. We survived Hurricane Floyd, the Blizzards of '96 and spent a total of 15 years celebrating all kinds of milestones together. Since my parents sold the place in 2005, I've known that I'll never be able to go "home" again. Especially now since the new owner tore the whole damn place down to make another monstrosity of a house that will hopefully be someone's new place to make memories.

I'm sad that I'll never be able to bring Violet to my old home to show her where I threw the stapler to make the dent in the laundry room door, or the fireplace my siblings and I huddled around to have our Dad teach us how to play poker with Lite Brite pieces on a snowy Sunday, or the cozy kitchen our family spent good quality time together. I know I'm waxing nostalgic, but I think that's what usually happens around the holidays.

And now as a grown-up with my own family, I've been preoccupied with ideas of how to make a home for Lady Violet. Within her first 5 years of life, she will already have 2 different houses in Mountain Home, a place in Pagosa Springs and at least one other home in Japan under her belt. And being that Scott has another 9 years before he can retire from the Air Force, more moves will most definitely be in our future. Violet won't really have a building she can point to and call "home", but I will do everything I possibly can to give her a home-feeling wherever she goes.

Because of all of the moving I've done in my life thus far, I remember thinking I just wanted to find a home and live in it for as long as I had children to raise. But I now realize that not only is that not really a feasible childhood dream to accomplish, I should and will continue to count my EVERY blessing that I have a family that can make me feel at home wherever we go or however many times I have to pack boxes.