Santa Letter

The picture says it all - have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Love, Marci, Dave, Sophie, Lucy and John

He lifted me up...

Quite a few years ago, when I was nine months pregnant with Lucy, Dave achieved all-star status as a husband... and all because of Leg Lifts by Origins. Throughout the entire pregnancy I had a bad case of restless legs and the only thing that seemed to help was a liberal amount of Leg Lifts rubbed onto my calves. This was all fine and dandy until I got to 36 weeks and found myself rapidly running out of the magic potion. As I was already 1 cm dilated I thought things would be fine and just vowed to use a little less cream each time. Then came 37 weeks, 38 weeks, 39 weeks... and 40 weeks. No baby in sight, hardly any cream left, and no Origins store within five hours of us. I was way too cheap to buy a whole new tube and pay shipping and handling when I didn't think I'd need it after the pregnancy was over, so I just kept suffering. But after one particularly intense leg rubbing experience, I was in tears - there was no relief from the small amount of cream and I was overdue. That night, while I restlessly slept, Dave went online and ordered Leg Lifts - and had it overnight expressed to our house. So, for the next ten days until Lucy finally made her appearance, I used up tons of cream and thanked Dave each and every time.

Wrinkly Carrots

Just when I have begun to have confidence in myself as a cook, things go wrong. Years ago Theresa provided me with a fail-proof recipe that tastes wonderful. It’s basically a 4-5 pound roaster chicken stuffed with 8-10 garlic cloves and a wedged lemon and baked for a few hours. With an hour left of cooking time, I add cut up potatoes and carrots and while the chicken is cooling enough to cut, I make gravy out of the drippings. It’s one of those meals that’s perfect for impressing friends and relatives… but not so Wednesday night. We wanted to eat by 5 pm so we could spend the rest of the evening attending Las Noches de las Luminarias at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix.

In preparation, I preheated the oven and stuffed the chicken by 2:15 and then went off to read a book. At 3:30 I put the vegetables in a different roasting pan and went back to my reading. At about 4:45 Bev alerted me that all was not well… that the chicken, in fact, was quite raw. It was then we all (by now it was quite the family affair) figured out it should have been cooked at 325 degrees rather than the 250 that I had set the oven. We turned up the heat, cooked the potatoes and carrots and the microwave, and waited to eat until 6. So much for an easy-to-prepare, delicious dinner.

Throughout dinner Bev exclaimed over and over again how wonderful the meal was, Sophie said her carrots tasted wrinkly, and I wanted to sink in my seat. Next time I think I’ll follow the recipe.

Sad News

This morning I recieved word that the father of my friend Alice passed away. He'd had such a long hard struggle and fought so very hard - from his brave and stubborn struggle and Alice's stories I wish I would have known him before a drunk driver took away so much of his life. In some ways, when a close friend or relative struggles with every breath or every step, it's easier to cope with their loss. But this just seems so unjust - in September, 2005 he was hit by a drunk driver as he came home from finishing things up at work. The driver escaped without harm and fled the accident while Boots struggled to live. That struggle went on while he was transferred to Craig Hospital in Denver which specializes in helping people with traumatic injuries. As he worked through weaning from a ventilator and all kinds of other therapy many people prayed and prayed for him. Finally, about 15 months after his accident, he was flown back home and everyone was full of joy. Within days he was back at ICU and life support was withdrawn last night. He worked so hard for such a very long time and we all just wanted him to get better. Let's celebrate his life and all the joy it brought and please, remember Alice and the rest of his family in your thoughts and prayers.

Introducing the GKids Travel Blog

Before we left for our two-week vacation I spoke with both Sophie and Lucy's teachers and we thought a journal chronicling their adventures would be a wonderful homework assignment. They've always been (Sophie a bit more than Lucy) interested in my blog so I brought up a blog idea to Sophie and Lucy and they thought it would be great to have their very own blog. In Sophie's entries, I've helped her upload the pictures but she's been the main photographer. She's also done most of the typing by herself. We're all set up in James and Bev's office so I get her going and then go drink some more coffee and chat with the grownups as she composes. When she's tired out, she dictates to me and I do the typing. With Lucy she dictates everything to me and reads over my shoulder. Sometimes she gets to talking so fast I have a hard time keeping up. John is eager to get going so we'll make sure to include some if his thoughts too. So, if you're wondering what we're up to, through the eyes of the children, here goes... check it out with the sidebar link or go directly to it at gkidstravel.blogstpot.com

Over the hills and through the woods to Grandmother's house we go...

“Through the door and down the stairs, by the pool and across the parking lot, over the rocks and down the sidewalk, to Grandmother’s house we go”

When we visit Grandma Bev and Grandpa James in Arizona we stay at the “guest” condo a few blocks away from their house. Two years ago when we last visited at Christmastime we made up the above verse to the popular tune. Sophie and Lucy immediately memorized it and it helped give them landmarks to find their way. They still sing it whenever we head to Grandma and Grandpa’s and last year they taught it to John. Yesterday morning it was wonderful to hear him say, “Let’s do the Grandma thing!” and hear a chorus of “Through the door and down the stairs, by the pool…”

Christmas in Arizona

After 30 hours of straight through driving, we made it to Arizona by 10:30 Saturday night. I’m proud to say I accomplished 1/10 of the driving and 9/10 of the supervision. The kids did a fantastic job thanks to a lot of drawing paper, a new Playmobil Santa and his sleigh, and movies. Barnyard, a recommendation from Sophie’s 3rd grade teacher, was most definitely the biggest movie hit. The treats from Bridget and JR (Thank you, thank you, thank you!) helped provide a sugar high when the driving got to be too much. Grandpa James and Grandma Bev helped finish polishing them off and now we’re all looking for the recipe for the brownie cupcakes with the cream filling (hint, hint). We’re enjoying our time here – watching the Santa bikers, swimming, hottubbing, and drinking mighty strong coffee. We hope this finds you taking some time for yourself too.

Ballerinas

Who would have thought that a husband and wife team with four left feet could create some dancers? Not I! I gave jazz a try in highschool and was self conscious for every single minute, not to mention that I was totally off beat with all the other dancers. To this day I still cringe when I hear "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown." Dave, as well, is no dancing machine.

Sophie, Lucy and John love dancing - whether it's just around the living room floor to Shrek's CD or with their dance classes. Last night they both performed in the North Dakota Ballet Company's Holiday Show When You Believe. The smiles on their faces throughout each dance routine were unforgettable. Although we've had an extremely busy week with dance classes and show rehearsals, it all seems worth it.

So, if you're in town tonight, head to the Empire Theater at 7:30 pm to watch dancers from three to the mid-twenties dance their hearts out. You'll be glad you did.

Building Aggravation or “Careful, I’m in a Foul Mood as I write this.”

What is it with some men that they think they are the world’s greatest gift to all of the rest of us peons. I’ve put up with two electricians for three days and, even though they seem to have done great work, I know I’ll never have them back. In fact, I complained to my general contractor about their attitude. Disclaimer: My general contractor and most everyone else he hired have been wonderful. Not so for the electricians; one man in particular “checked” me out each and every time he walked by – this wasn’t even a subtle eye appraisal, rather it was a full-blown head to toe and head to toe once again. The first time I had just gotten dressed and wondered if I’d forgotten to put my shirt on. The second time I thought, “Man, this guy must be hard up if he’s checking me out.” And for every time since then, I’ve made sure to look him right in the eye so that when he gets to my face, which I’m not sure if he actually ever will, he sees that I know exactly what he’s up to.

The second guy is a charmer – acts all polite but you just have the feeling that the second you walk away he’s up to no good. He’s the one I complained to this morning when they kept flipping breakers without telling me. I politely said, “You know, you really should let me know before you flip any breakers – I’m going to be working on the computer so just let me know and I’ll save what I’m working on.” About three hours later, as I was writing a blog entry about knitting, one of the electricians headed down the stairs. I quickly copied my work, went to open Word to paste in the entry and save it but before I could even get Word open, the electrician flipped the breaker. One cuss word later, he was up the stairs where I greeted him in a not-so-polite manner. He was apologetic, but come on … all I asked for was a two-minute notice of when the breaker would be flipped. It really shouldn’t be so hard.

Another thing that bugged me is that there doesn’t seem to be any common courtesy on their part. This morning I got groceries after dropping the kids off. I carried in six bags from the car at one time right as the “check me out” guy came out the backdoor for his cigarette break. He said “Hi,” again not looking me in the eye and continued to walk past me. Uh , ok, let me just get the doors all by myself as you sit and enjoy your cigarette. It’s not like I was asking him to bring in the groceries and then put them away… I pretty much had my hands full and could have used a little help with the door, that’s all.

OK, now that I’m done complaining, maybe I can get back to the knitting entry and try to recreate it. Trust me – it’ll be more enjoyable to read than this one!