My Saturday Morning Jog

On Saturday I went for a jog in sunny San Diego. So beautiful!
I was planning on taking it easy since I tweaked my knee on Thursday, but I fell in with a bunch of people training for a marathon and it made the jog that much more fun. And running along the beach was just awesome.

I did encounter a pedestrian that reminded me so much of my Dad that I actually started to cry. If I hadn't been 2 miles from the hotel I would have stopped and walked. Instead I pushed on and finished the last 2 miles in record time -- and resolved to buy some good sport sunglasses so no one could see me cry. (I'm not sure, but I think seeing someone that looked like my Dad in California made me suddenly mournful of the fact that he'll never see us in our new life in Monterey.)
I'd really like to push myself to try a half marathon in memory of my Dad. It's definitely something that won't be easy, but he wasn't one to shy away from a challenge.

My San Diego View

We were in San Diego over the weekend. Holy cow it was beautiful and warm and great!
I am so thankful that my in-laws were willing to watch the kids (after their own California trip).

Morning view of the Pacific from Mission Beach.

Palm trees at the airport.

La Jolla

My Legoland

Toby doesn't know that a place like Legoland exists, which is ok with me because he creates his own worlds. I can't imagine what he would build if he were to go to an entire Lego-themed amusement park.
(And I just overheard him say "I have so many Legos I don't know what to do." Note taken.)

My Night Owl

There comes a time when kids lose the need for a nap. You know this because of the hours your child keeps on days she has napped versus days she does not. Like last tonight, for example. Norah napped and here she is enjoying a book at... 9:51 pm.

It reminded me of these pictures:

Toby doing the same thing.

And one of our old dog Kendall snuggling next to a sick Toby one day (he was about 3). The large pillow Norah is snuggled against is actually a sick and sleeping BJ.

My Dancer

Norah's first ballet/dance class. We got to watch the class through a little window, so the pictures aren't that great at all. But she really enjoyed it!

My New Layout

I took a minute today to experiment with Blogger's new layouts.
Mosey on over to the actual blog (if you're reading posts in a Reader) and let me know what you think... if you can figure out how to leave comments, that is.  :o)
I won't keep the layout like this for long, but I'm really appreciating the ability to easily click through 3 1/2 years worth of pictures and stories. Especially when we're on the cusp of so much change (again). The scrapbook layout is really cool, despite being completely unhelpful and seemingly disorganized.
Happy clicking.
:o)

A nook at Shakespeare and Co book store in Paris.
This is disorganization disguised as neat. My specialty. 

My Sledding Buddies

This has got to be one of my favorite pictures from Christmas break. My brother-in-law Josh pushing Norah, cousin Lincoln, and Toby on my little sister's snowboard down the middle of the street. At the top of the blog there are a bunch of pictures scrolling from Christmas. This is just one in a series showing the kids sledding down the street, and if you click through them you'll see a few in a row of Norah almost falling off. But she's got amazing balancing skills and stayed on in front--she's a little adrenaline junkie in the making! (Just like her Dad...)

I love the joy on the kids' faces. We really tried to make the trip be all about the kids. We took them to the Denver Zoo lights, we spent a lot of time with cousins, and on Christmas morning they got to open a ton of presents. I am happy to see pictures like this, where the kids are enjoying themselves so much, because it was really a hard time to be without my Dad.

My Daughter Says...

In a conversation this afternoon:

Me: I am going to take the laundry downstairs while you are in quiet time.

Norah: You're welcome. You are welcome to do that.

I like how she's trying out new phrases to see how they sound. (Did I teach her that one? I have no idea.)

My Next Challenge?

In a little over 6 months the Strawser 4 will be departing the lovely East Coast for...the West Coast!

Monterey, California here we come!


This may be old news for those of you with ties to the Philosopher in the family, or a connection to Facebook, but I wanted to take my own sweet time to let the news settle.
We'll be heading out to Monterey for BJ to teach at the Naval Postgraduate School.

Full time! Tenure-track! A real job!

And, to add on to THAT incredibly good news, BJ will also be working with the Center on the Ethics of Law and Armed Conflict (ELAC) in Oxford, England for the next 3 years heading up a fellowship. In a time when many people are struggling to find one job in the philosophy market, we're taking two. ;o)

So the next 6 months will include a lot of preparations for a cross-country move (ahem, for the Navy to move us, that is), a visit to Monterey to do some school shopping and house hunting (we'll be renting unless someone is interested in investing in some great rental properties in Colorado Springs...), as well as a preliminary trip to Oxford to meet up with the ELAC leadership.

And lastly,
Anyone interested in meeting me in Monterey to do this: http://www.bigsurhalfmarathon.org/ in November 2012? We'll at least have a couch for you!

My sunrise

It's scenes like this that make me remember why I like getting up early.

My Winter Break

So, apparently, I've been on a bit of a blogging break.
Sorry for the lack of warning. I'll get things going again shortly.

I do have about 300 pictures from the last month of travels on my camera, and once I get those downloaded I'll put them online for the world to see.

I really do have cute children, and sometimes it's good for me to post pictures of them being cute. Perhaps upon viewing the cuteness the strangers giving me the evil eye in the grocery store on Saturday night would understand that Norah's screeching was not normal. And I could have explained to anyone interested that her completely illogical and high-pitched crying was really stemming from her desire to be safe and buckled inside the cart, which she believed had a faulty buckle system. Mere safety concern from the safety officer in the family, really. The end result of the screaming fit was a streamlined visit through the store (milk, eggs, bread, goodbye), a breeze past the free cookie at the end of the checkout aisles, and me practically leaving them behind at the entrance whining to ride the (almost undoubtedly broken) mechanical dinosaur. And a vow on my part to never ever ever ever ever (not ever again) use one of those horrid double-carts that grocery stores provide to push more than one kid. I have indulged them in the past with the "free ride" through the store on one of those things, convincing myself that it's a win-win (they are buckled in and contained and I'm getting a great workout). No more lies, people. Those things are torture devices disguised as a convenience item.