My "UNcategorically Excellent" Husband

Avery Point had their annual awards ceremony yesterday.  Glancing at the program we noticed a large handful of his former students being recognized for awards, and it was nice to hear about their accomplishments (and to hear them confirmed from BJ's experiences with them in class).
There's something quaint about the campus where BJ teaches.  They try the "pomp and circumstance" of larger schools, and it usually just comes across as "cute." Yesterday was much of the same.  We were in attendance because BJ was chosen to be recognized at the awards ceremony.  We weren't sure what for...
It turns out that they wanted to acknowledge BJ's excellent service and teaching record over the last 3 years, but they didn't have an existing category to fit him into, seeing as he's not an adjunct, an instructor, or a grad student in an Avery Point program (and we saw people receive awards for all those things--and more--yesterday).  So they made up an award category for him: uncategorically excellent.
Frankly, I could have told him he was "uncategorically excellent" and printed a nice little certificate, but it couldn't compare to the cheer and public recognition that he received at the awards ceremony.  All for a grad assistant teaching his philosophy classes and impacting so many students at little, quaint Avery Point.

My Spring Break (#2) Road Trip!

Last week during Toby's spring break we enjoyed a little road trip . And where did we go?
...(drum roll)...
New Jersey!
:o)
BJ has been attending a weekly seminar at Rutgers in New Brunswick, which is almost exactly halfway between our home and Oma and Opa in Maryland. So we decided to keep BJ company in the car and asked Oma to meet us in New Jersey.
What could be better than a road trip to the state with the cheapest gas prices?  Seeing Oma, of course!!
The kids were very well behaved in the car, and we enjoyed several hours of quality time with Oma--at lunch, at a park, at a mall, at another park, and at dinner.  It was a packed day, but I think the kids had a lot of fun!
We walked around the campus for a little bit before BJ's class ended, and took a few shots of the kids in front of these beautiful blooming trees.
It was a great start to Toby's spring break.

My Glam-Nana

I took this picture of my Nana on Easter.
I noticed two things:
1) I hope I look this healthy at 90.
2) I'm named after her, in a way, and so is Norah (Madaline Barber --> Abbilynn Barber---> Norah Lynn) and I like that I'm reflected in her glamorously huge sunglasses.

My Nana is the sweetest lady you'll ever meet. They came back from wintering in Florida and basically the first thing she said to me was "Anytime you want to go out for dinner with BJ I'll watch the kids!"

I hope you all had a glamorously wonderful Easter. :o)

My Slow Updates

I seem to be running about 2 weeks behind on everything....
So here are some pictures of the kiddos from February and March.  (A solid two months ago!  Norah's birthday??!!)

February and March

(They are also scrolling at the top of the blog.)

Just for kicks, here is where we were two years ago: April 13, 2009.  Since that post I've read that whole series, the first book is being made into a movie (they've cast the teenage main character with someone who's 21--why do they do that??).  I'm still not sure a book is worth losing so much sleep over.  (Although it was really good.)

And, we were (magically, it seems) here two years ago.  One of my favorite days ever.  We saw a documentary last night called Man on Wire.  It's streaming on Netflix, and it had been in our queue for a while. I'm very glad we watched it, and these pictures dovetail some events in the documentary.  Very cool.

My Bike Shop

We've got photos now of both kiddos and their new bikes!

My Sunday Reflections

I should probably be getting ready for church this morning, but instead I had a lovely chat with a friend who recently had a baby.  Her struggles with getting little sleep got me thinking about how far we've come since our kids were itty bitty.  I looked up some old blog posts to gain a little perspective.  I thought it would be fun to link to a few of them from time to time so that I can keep in mind where we've been.  Especially when where we're headed is so unclear.

So, two years ago was this: My Son's Socks.  And guess what?  He still leaves socks around the house!  (Clearly the lesson learned is that I did a terrible job teaching him to pick up after himself!)
[Two years ago I was also posting pictures of our trip to Europe.  That seems like forever ago!]

And one year ago: My Side-by-Side Photos.  I should have re-posed that one alongside last week's pictures of the kids!


P.S.  For those of you familiar with the Mystic area you're going to laugh when I tell you another reason I'm moving slowly today: I went on a run yesterday from the Mystic-Noank Library down River Road (past my old house on Pearl Street!) and back.  A total of 5.25 gorgeous, sunny miles.  With a finish that was so ugly I'm pretty sure my 90+ year-old grandparents would have gone faster up that hill.  ;o)  That's what I get for not wanting to try and find a parking spot closer to downtown!

My Hypocrisy

What about this picture illustrates my hypocrisy?

Here's a clue: If I said "I am wrapped around Norah's finger" would you see where I say one thing and do another?  Oh well.  So much for standing up against scams.

My Ambitions

I mentioned last week that I got a job.  The madness continues for another week or so, perfectly timed to end around the time Toby starts his spring break.
In order to show the person needing work that I am somewhat capable to write I dusted off the resume and sent it along, after tweaking and updating a bit here and there.  My resume has nothing sparkly on it, and in no way shouts "HIRE ME!!!!"  But I did spend some time perusing job hunting websites in order to find the right language to make the statement "I'm not a lazy bum and I'd probably do a good job!"  That seemed to do the trick.  Like I said the other day, I don't think he was being too picky.
While reading over a web site the other day of a blogger I enjoy following I actually got tired reading the accomplishments she had listed in her bio.  I traveled here....I supervised there...I managed this...I exceeded expectations everywhere.....  I needed to take a nap just picturing someone doing all those things!
We're coming upon the time in life where another job transition (from student to professor) might be coming, which means compiling portfolios of everything nice someone says and everything important ever published (believe it or not, some unimportant things get published).  Looking at a CV (that's curriculum vitae for non-academia folks; it's an academic bio/resume) the other day that was 40 pages long made BJ and I wilt with trepidation about what his CV will look like in comparison when he goes on the job market.  Luckily his CV won't be in a pile with one like that, at least in this first round of jobs. ;o)
My ambitions more closely align with a good cup of coffee or a nice glass of wine shared with wonderful people, and kids that are more entertaining than any travel/management/publishing/work experience.  (And on occasion that includes the fact that I get to take a nap too!)

My Photo Shoot

The little spring flowers are in bloom.  Every spring here I've really liked seeing the juxtaposition of the dead leaves with the bright blue flowers poking through.  My kids are so fantastic to put up with me trying to get a good photo with these flowers.  

It's not easy.  There was a 6-foot ladder involved this year.  And a much better camera.  Any bad shots are credited to user error.  Or the fact that it was chilly and windy and the kids were hungry.  But out of 40 shots we got a few that are nice.  I love my kids.  I'm hoping you do too.  :o)

My Band-Aid Fight

It is my opinion that Band-Aids need to come with a warning label: "While these are often effective in calming an upset child with no other extrinsic benefit like bringing healing to a wound, they may cause exponentially more harm through tantrums."
There have been more fights in our household in the last 5 years over Band-Aids than any other household product--combined.
When Toby was an itty bitty baby I accidentally cut his finger with the nail clippers.  The problem then was the unwieldy nature of Band-Aid packaging while trying to comfort a bleeding infant.  The solution: lament that Band-Aids aren't dispensable like that hands-free tape packaging you see advertised at Christmas; nurse the baby to calm him down and get a clean cloth for the wound.
Just the other day Norah threw an all-out tantrum (picture kicking, screaming, crying crocodile tears, becoming a wet noodle so I couldn't pick her up) at CVS while I was getting a prescription.  The cause?  I told her I didn't want to buy the pack of Dora Band-Aids she had gone off and picked out.  The solution: win the argument at all costs, somehow try to blame the tantrum on the delay at the pharmacy, and be secretly thankful that there are many old people around you who probably think Norah's screams are just laughter.  (OK, that's a little harsh--I actually just told Norah "no," apologized profusely over her screams to everyone around me, got my prescription and got the heck out of there.)
Here's the problem with Band-Aids as I see it.  People say that Band-Aids are cheap and they can be used to make kids feel better even though they don't do anything helpful for the wound--and they use them even if there isn't a wound.  So parents buy all kids--we've had Star Wars, Spider Man, Superman, Princess, Dora, Army, and see-through Band-Aids at our house.  But it's a huge scam, isn't it!  I'd rather pay the same price for a book of stickers to give the kids whenever they get hurt for all the good the Band-Aid does.

My Home Office

I got a job this week (hooray!) which was completely unexpected and very last-minute. (I sent the guy my resume at 2:00 on a Wednesday and he called me at 2:15 asking me if I could start right away--and I'm positive it had little to do with a sparkling resume.) But it's only for the next 3 weeks, it's interesting material, and it gets my foot in the door with a new company. In short, it hasn't been a slow transition on the home front but it's been manageable. I thought I'd send along a picture of my desk, because I've often thought of how the concept of "my space" is just an illusion in our house. My desk is the dining room table (read: our only table) and a basket. Everything folds up nicely and is easily portable, but it is a bit challenging to feel pride in my work space. Hopefully this new job will not be affected by the crumbs and coffee stains at the table.

My Kids Get Ready for Spring

We got Norah a new bike last week. We'll feature some video of her riding it shortly. 



The helmet seen here is so last season. 

Toby decides to step in a give Norah some pointers on how to wear bike helmets.

What better activity is there than dress-up when it's too cold to ride your new bikes?  These outfits brought to you by the Princess and the Luuuv Cowboy.

My Artwork Chest

What would you do with an ever-growing stack of child drawn art work?
Auction them off to the highest bidder, of course.

...

Or maybe send them to family and friends?
If you'd like an original "Toby" or "Norah" for your refrigerator or desk give me a holler!