My 9th Anniversary "Redux"

I just wanted to add a note about our 9th anniversary because there were some special moments, and, since my mom came out this week to visit, BJ and I actually got to go on TWO dates without the kiddos! BJ and I seemed to find great cards for each other that really summed up how we feel about this time in our lives. BJ's card said this: "Someday, many years from now, we'll look back on this crazy time in our life together and wonder how we did it all ... and then, those ordinary, everyday moments that we often take for granted will shimmer like stars as we recount them." Sitting at the edge of the Mystic River watching the sun go down on a wedding reception at the restaurant where BJ and I ate dinner last weekend will be one of those starry memories. How special to celebrate our anniversary by being outside observers of a new marriage just getting started.
My card to BJ summed up perfectly how I feel about being relocated from friends and family in this major life transition: "Everyone has a path in life -- loving you is my path. For me, the future isn't about where I'm going. It's about where we're headed together and what we'll share along the way. ... (mushy stuff edited) ... I know without a doubt that I want to go on walking the same path with you forever."
I think paying some greeting card writers/companies a combined fee of $6.72 for words that express perfectly our sentiments towards each other as well as towards this life stage was well worth it. Ahh, Abbi has a sentimental side ... who knew? And how many ellipses can I put into one blog post?

My Pile O' Pink

People warned me, and I just didn't believe them...Until now... Norah, decked out in a pink onesie, with a pink bib, and a pink blanket behind her, have shown me that it IS possible to have an entire load of laundry of pink clothes. It's a good thing we like the color pink!

(Norah started eating rice cereal this week, and she is just the cutest thing learning how to eat!)

My son the fish

We went to my aunt Dona's pool on Wednesday night for a cook-out while my mom was in town (and a spontaneous celebration of my grandparents' 65th anniversary--WOW). Toby, with his life jacket on, swam all over the pool all by himself for about an hour and a half. I lasted about 45 minutes with the kids in the pool before I got too cold. Toby stayed in a while longer before dinner. Then we got him out of the pool long enough to eat. Somehow he decided that he could go back in the pool (at about 7 o'clock--the sun was almost set and it was getting cold!). So he runs off to a corner and takes off all his clothes! He proceeds to run laps around the swimming pool looking for his swimsuit--buck naked infront of 20 dinner guests! My cousin's daughter Siobhan decided she wanted to go back in the pool too, so they swam together for another half hour! It was pretty impressive!

My Painter

Toby needed an activity to stay occupied while I unpacked. Here's one that worked and we got some cute pictures out of it too. I put food coloring into piles of shaving cream and gave him some tin foil to paint on. I drew a scene in marker (a red umbrella on a beach) and had him color it in.
He's so cute when he's into a task!

My Reminder

It's rained off and on almost every day since we got here. And even though that really stinks because we can't go outside during (as well as before and after) the rain storms I at least have pictures available on the internet to remind me of where we live. In case you haven't visited yet this is a picture of Avery Point campus surrounded by the Thames River and Groton beach on the top and several marinas on the bottom. It looks out over Fisher's Island and on Saturday morning we walked to campus (you can actually see our house in this picture--roughly) and looked out at Long Island. No kidding. So this place has potential.
As far as where our house is located in the picture? See where all the boats are moored? The solo dock on the right is a straight shot from our front door. If I put my car in reverse starting in our driveway and floored it I could drive straight off that dock (with nothing but boats to block my way). But I wouldn't do that because right now our car is the most valuable thing we own....

My 9th Anniversary "Celebration"?

BJ and I attempted to celebrate our ninth wedding anniversary tonight by going out to eat. We wanted to go to our favorite family gathering place that we had the last time we were living here--Portabellos. We were dismayed to discover that sometime between May of 2006 and August of 2008 the restaurant closed. So we had to settle for a simple restaurant in downtown Willimantic called The Post Office (actually it's now the Main Street Cafe and Brewery and much more expensive than we remembered).
I say that we attempted to celebrate because Toby put on a real show for the other diners in the restaurant. From playing keep-away with BJ in the parking lot on the way into the restaurant to the five times we had to leave the table for time out in the bathroom (yes, five times) Toby single-handedly ruined our nice night out. On the way home BJ and I reflected on just how awful his behavior was (and we couldn't pinpoint a reason for it), and we decided that he has never acted so poorly at a restaurant before. Not ever. It got so bad at one point another waitress came up and asked, "What is he, about three? Don't worry, it gets better. I was about to pull my hair out with my three-year-old." Nice. How's that supposed to make us feel? Better? I think I would have rather had the manager ask us to leave. It was that bad. I was so horribly embarrassed the only thing keeping us there to "finish" our meals was the desire to celebrate our anniversary with some time together. So much for that idea. At least I have the leftovers. Hopefully we'll buy a microwave soon so I can eat the leftovers and enjoy a hot meal and laugh at the memory of just how bad Toby was. Really, even if someone had a video camera there taping us you still wouldn't believe it was Toby acting out. So it will be a while before we attempt another meal out with Toby.

My Internet Problem

My Internet problem is that I can't seem to spend more than a day or two away from it. I wouldn't call it an addiction because I can quit at any time (really I can). But it felt like I was doing something wrong by not checking email several times a day or reading up on the latest buzz about Stephenie Meyer's newest book (yes, I admit to liking books that are written for teenage girls). It was nice to not be distracted from the task at hand (unpacking a 1900-square-foot house to fit into a 1000-square foot cottage), but once our Internet was hooked up this morning I jumped back into old habits. I must learn from this last week of Internet-less living. It can be done. Plenty of people don't have access at home. I saw many of them at the library when I went on Friday to check my email! It's just not as easy to do at the library when you've got two small children to keep an eye on while trying to read the super important emails you get as a housewife and mother of two small children....Hmmmmm.