Chuck Update

Like me, nothing too much going on. Unlike me, turns out he's NOT allergic to the outdoors. Which is surprising because he hasn't been able to breathe easily for as long as we've been married. He visited the allergist on Monday and found out he was only allergic to oak trees. Psh. I mean, good for him. I was actually looking forward to our twice weekly dates at the shot clinic.

He lost someone very important to him in February and is still dealing with that. Death sucks.

Otherwise, his calling is okay, his after-school job is okay. Life is okay.

Update: Chuck

Chuck is, well, pretty much the same. Work is good. He's working on creating the online statistics course. Of course I'm super jealous. I think he has more fun at work than at home because of his work husband (they don't have any kids together AND his husband likes sports). At home he's busier than he wants with his calling. Sunday meetings, Wednesday nights, and then anything extra. We all know the drill. But they've had a couple of great activities. One was teaching bike maintenance to the YM and the other was teaching the boys how to grill and then eating the food with the YW. He loved the pineapple so much he made it at home. (Rub the pineapple with cinnamon and then grill--delicious!) He'd love more time to play video games, but wouldn't we all?! Well maybe not, but we'd all love more time for something. That's just his something.

In other news, we cleaned out his closet. (And by "his closet," I mean the section of the laundry room where we hang his clothes.) I think we got rid of 50 pounds of clothes. It's amazing. It just feels so good, at least to me.

Solo Parenting

A friend recently told me that she likes to see me and my family because we're always together. Of course this isn't 100% true, and she knows that. But really, we're not that big of a family and our kids aren't yet involved in a bunch of outside activities, so we are together a lot. Grocery trips, walks around the neighborhood, whatever. It's all four of us!

Want to know why? Because neither Chuck nor I likes to be left alone with the kids. In that unusual way, having kids brought us closer together. So when one of us has to travel, it's hard. Because it's usually me that travels alone, it doesn't affect me (ha). This time, however, Chuck got a turn to solo travel. This week he's visiting his parents in (mostly) sunny, (mostly) warm Arizona, I'm at home with the boys in cold, snowy (if just for three minutes) Maryland.

If the boys weren't constantly fighting, it would be no problem. But they just can't keep their bodies apart. And if their bodies are together, it's poking, pinching, punching and then tears. It's incredibly frustrating. Thank goodness I'm pretty good at ignoring it. Plus dinners of pancake tacos, frozen pizzas, ward BBQs, are pretty easy and crowd pleasing.

But still. I'd rather Chuck be here.

Chuck's Job

I'm going to attempt to describe what Chuck's new job is. I'm sure he'll correct as necessary. When students in our school system are out for health reasons for four or more weeks, they are entitled to receive instructional services from professional staff (rather than the family being strictly responsible for missed work). There are about 300 of these staff, who are temporary and part-time (maybe recent grads hoping for an in to the school system or retired teachers). This is how Chuck fits in:

1) He will have a case load of about 30 students, and he coordinates their education while they're homebound. He communicates with the parents, instructors, teachers, and/or school counselors to make sure the kids aren't missing anything.

2) He will train the temporary, part-time instructors on math curriculum.

3) He will create online courses for algebra and/or geometry. Whether these courses will be delivered via Skype, YouTube, or something else is TBD.

That's it. I think. How did I do Chuck?

He's excited about it. I'm excited that he's still in an office where I can communicate with him easily (it can be hard to get a hold of a teacher for non-emergencies). I'm really excited that he still has the flexibility of an "office" job. I'm really really excited that he's off this summer and all school holidays! It's a (mostly) good life.



P.S. Know what I want Chuck to do in all of his "free" time this summer as the stay-at-home dad? Create a honey-do list app. I can add things to his and then he can cross them off. It'll make us a million dollars, or maybe just six. We'll see.

Our Summer Plans

Last year at this time I was already weeks into my summer plans. This year? Nope. No summer plans. Part of that was the pool. The pool is my summer plan. The other part is that Chuck was looking for a new job, and that search was taking much longer than anticipated. Because I didn't know if I would be working full-time or part, I couldn't plan! And yes, in normal circumstances, that would have driven me crazy. But with everything going on, I just didn't care.

BUT now we know! Chuck got a job! Here's the deal: I never quite explain it right, and I always get the roly-eyes because of it. So. I'll tell you the part that I care about, and if you want a real job description, just ask him. Right now, he's a full-time, school system employee. He works 40 hours a week, 52 weeks per year. He doesn't get spring break off (unless he requests it), he doesn't get Election Day off, he doesn't get Jewish holidays off, he doesn't get snow days off, he doesn't get summer off (which all teachers here do). BUT once he starts his new job, he will get all those lovely things! Why is this incredible? Because we have children in school and I work part-time. Schedule changes (especially snow days) can be extremely stressful as we shuffle to find child care. Not any longer. It's wonderful. Plus, he'll be around all Christmas and Spring Breaks.

Of course the only downside is that I'll have to work full-time during the summer. Which is sad because I'm really loving that pool. Especially on hottest day of the year when your air conditioner goes out.

P.S. Because I'm me, I created this time series graph of the temperature in our house once the air conditioner was fixed. Just trust me that 89° is way too hot for the inside of a house.

Where Did We Go?

Remember when I watched some friends' kids back in June just because I wanted time away from my own kids at some future date? Well, that future date was earlier this week. Through some miracle of scheduling, Chuck and I were able to get out of town Saturday at 5. By some anti-miracle, I forgot my camera.

What did we do? We got dinner locally, and then drove to Cacapon State Park in West Virginia. We stayed in the lodge there and just had a nice night. We woke up and took a run together. (Remember that we're running the Christmas Story Run in just over two weeks? Chuck's training for it, and let's just say that I got to run at our race pace.) After breakfast we headed to nearby Berkeley Springs. We walked around town, shopping at antique stores and boutiques. It was awesome. Then we headed to our next destination, Bedford Springs (with a stop at Everett, PA on the way). This hotel was so fancy, we couldn't even park our own car. Whoa. That evening we enjoyed the room, had dinner, and then swam in the indoor pool.

Monday morning the weather was terrible (wet and cold). I ran inside, and then Chuck and I stayed in our warm, dry room until almost noon. It. Was. Amazing. We grabbed lunch and then, because the weather was still pretty bad, we took a driving tour of covered bridges. By then the rain was gone, so we went back to town for some shopping. After that, we played two games of bowling. Sweet. Then back to the hotel for dinner. And a false fire alarm at 11 p.m.

Tuesday morning was still cold, but snowy! I could run outside! We hung out in the room for a bit and then went back to town for lunch. After that we headed home with one stop at some outlets. Man, I really HATE clothes shopping. We were early enough to drop off our stuff at home, unpack, and get Bruno before we picked up the kids, almost exactly 72 hours later. I wish I could say that I was thrilled to see the kids and cuddled them all evening, whilst they obeyed everything I asked them to do. But no. I was tired. They were tired. It wasn't the worst night we've had, but not the best.

But getting away is always worth it. Always. I can't wait for the day when Rhett and Ollie are old enough to watch themselves. Let's hope that we raise boys responsible enough for that. And if not, I'm sure Natalie won't mind taking my boys again, right?!

The New Bet

I don't know how it is in your house, but if there are treats in mine, they're about the only thing I can think of. I know how pathetic that sounds. I do. But raising kids is hard and I don't drink alcohol, so sweets it is. I love them. Chuck, on the other hand, loves and craves soda. As quickly as it's in the house, it's out of the house. We both go through our vices with lightning speed.

So I thought of this bet: Who can go without their respective vice the longest? Chuck, of course, is certain he'll win. Me, I'm not so sure. I know how often he stops in at Safeway for that Mountain Dew, even though he doesn't know I know. And he probably doesn't know how often I take a break at work to get a 25-cent box of Hot Tamales from the hot dog vendor. So don't tell him.

But we can't figure out what the winner gets. I wanted a night in a hotel. I don't even care where; Gaithersburg would be fine. (And locals, you know how exotic Gaithersburg is.) But to sleep in a bed all by myself and to wake up when my body wants me to wake up sounds amazing. But I'm still not sure. And Chuck, well, anything that boy wants is at least $400, so it's hard to please him. Ideas? What would you want?



P.S. I've been sick all week and am so over it. Please let this be my one and done for the winter. Because birthing babies + a serious cough = well, nothing good; am I right mamas?

P.P.S. Has anyone else watched "Flight of the Conchords" on Amazon? I must find others with whom I can laugh over this show.

Hooray for Odd Numbers

What was the big surprise? I figured that because I love to be with my friends so much, so must he (uh, love to be with his friends, that is). Of course, running or eating frozen yogurt (or both) are not his things, but golf is. So I secretly amassed seven other guys to play golf with him. When he got home from work I told him to pack his golf bags and get out here. He met his buddies, got 14 holes in before dark, and then found a pizza/lil' smokies with bacon/chocolate chip cookies/Coke dinner waiting for them in the trunk. The one regret was that I couldn't control the weather. After our summer of amazingness, we had our first real taste of the horribleness that Maryland can provide. He came home soaked to the skin in sweat. But do not fear--a good time was had by all. And I got a reputation for being a pretty amazing wife. Mission accomplished.

After such a great job by me, I felt I could be done so the next day was not very exciting. We were greeted bright and early by the boys, one of whom (cough, cough, OLLIE) demanded that Chuck open his presents right then. The presents were delivered to bed, and Ollie forced his to be opened first. It should be no surprise that as soon as Chuck pulled out the Mike 'n' Ikes and peanut M&Ms, Ollie yelled, "SHARE! SHARE! SHARE!" I gave him a pretty sweet card, and Rhett "sewed" him a new pillowcase. The rest of the morning was spent doing our usual thing (me: running, Chuck: playing on his ipod, boys: fighting...you know, the norm). In the afternoon we got a date through our regular babysitting swap and tried to avoid all things outside.

Sunday, however, was gorgeous. After church we grilled some meat, rode bikes, and then ate this ice cream cake. There's not much in the world that's too rich for me, but man, this comes close.

And now that it's Monday, we're are putting birthdays to rest. Good thing because I'm tired and idea-ed out. Happy birthday Chuck!



P.S. This is great.

SURPRISE

It will soon be Chuck's birthday and WOWZA do the boys and I have some surprises for him! I know he's reading this, and I hope he knows how very hard it's been for me to keep these things from him. But I'm so close to being able to reveal all. So very close. Enjoy the anticipation today, Charlie!

The Game that Chuck Built

Well, I guess I should say, "The Game that Chuck Helped Build," as he certainly didn't create the whole thing. But for the past many, many, MANY months, Chuck put in a lot of hours programming an old-school computer game, Quest for Infamy. Remember the game that the boy was playing in the first scene of "Big?" That's how I like to think of the game, even though I've never played either one, so what do I know?! Anyway, it's been on sale since the day we arrived in Utah and I'm pretty sure we'll be millionaires at the end of the year. So that's exciting. And a huge exaggeration.

With or without the riches and fame (although his name is pretty big in the credits), it's still pretty exciting for him. And pretty exciting for me because I might get my husband back at night.

Here is the screenshot of his name in big lights. Or, just his first name. Because y'all know how crazy I am about privacy.


P.S. Ugh. Want to feel old? Not only is the movie "Big" 26 years old, but remember how in the movie, Josh grows up to be an adult? Do you know how old Big Josh is in the movie? 35. That's right. I'm older than Big Josh.

Four (count 'em) Dates!

Through some miracle, Chuck and I were able to go on four dates in nine days' time.

Date 1: Friday morning. Because it was only a couple of hours and in the morning and in the winter, we really didn't have any good ideas. So I said, "Grocery shopping it is!" But we opted for a brand new grocery store about 30 minutes north of us, one the kids would have really struggled with. It was a Wegman's, which is apparently amazing. And it was...okay. I mean, it's a grocery store; how amazing can it be? The one totally awesome thing was its selection of bulk candy. I cannot wait for the decorating of gingerbread houses next year because I know where we'll be getting our candy.

Date 2: ALL DAY Monday. This was our anniversary and we decided to avail ourselves of our regular day care provider for the day so we could enjoy each other while celebrating our 9th anniversary. We started by going to an RV store just to look at the little trailers. Unfortunately they were closed, but man, are those things cute. Then we headed to Frederick, a town north of us. It has this super cute downtown area, and we spent the day walking and going in stores. It was perfect. One of those things we would have done before we had kids, but now would just be too hard. We ate at this fun pretzel place. We will go back there with the boys.


Date 3: Monday night. A friend owed us some hours of babysitting so after the kids were down, he came over and house sat while we saw a movie. Movie was good, but can I complain for a second about the 23 minutes of previews? Those things were interminable.

Date 4: Saturday night for three hours with two other couples. I don't know why it's taken us so long to join other couples on our babysitting group nights, but we sure have fun when we do. We did dinner at this taco place in a gas station (which I swear is what made me sick on Sunday), played indoor miniature golf, and finished with frozen yogurt. Good times.

Next date: Banff Film Festival in two weeks! So excited for this one.

P.S. I know this post isn't very exciting, but I couldn't believe how lucky we were to be able to get out together this many times.

P.P.S. We couldn't bear separating the boys, so it lasted only that one night. We're still trying different things to get them to sleep past 5:30 a.m.

Update: Adults

Obviously we are way more boring than our cute kids. So read at your own risk.

• Chuck's new job is going fine. He's still learning it, but is adjusting to an "office" culture.
• Because of the furlough and compressed deadlines, I have to tweak my work days a LOT this month, but otherwise, my job is fine.
• We have no upcoming travel on our calendar. I'm a lot bummed about this.
• This will be our first Thanksgiving and Christmas in nearly nine years of marriage with no family.
• We are so boring I can't even think of anything else to type.
• Why are you still reading?
• Go do something fun and then tell me about it so I can do it too.

An Intra-Marital Challenge

Did you see Chuck's audacity in issuing me a challenge last week?! I never! My own husband, no less. But let me tell you under what conditions that challenge will be accepted. First, it will not be more than two weeks (and six inches of rain) after the last mow. Second, it will not be on a job that needs bagging. Lawn mowing with bagging is like Lawn Mowing 501--you know, upper-division mowing. No freshman jumps into those upper-division classes, and neither will I.

However, should the opportunity present itself, I will be happy to forgo my lifelong goal of dying without mowing in order to take on this challenge. And he will sew a Babe the Blue Ox costume. And I will win.

P.S. Or I won't. Ha.

Just When You Think Life Isn't Going to Change...

Remember when I used to work full-time in the summer because my husband was a teacher? Right: it's happening now. But after our upcoming trip to Montreal, that will be a thing of the past. For the foreseeable future at least. Why? Last Wednesday Chuck was offered a job as an Instructional Specialist with the school system. And he took it. WHAT WHAT?!

Yep. Our lives are about to change pretty dramatically. Goodbye very early mornings for Chuck (and goodbye alarm clocks as our boys take care of that for us). Goodbye three o'clock in the afternoons being off from work. Goodbye days off from work for Jewish holidays, voting days, teacher workdays. Goodbye spring breaks or week-long Christmas vacations (unless he takes the time off). Goodbye wearing hockey jerseys to work. And the biggest change of all: Goodbye summers with the boys. And this is the one I truly mourn. I know this is how most people live, but it hasn't been how we live. And so that will be hard.

But there are good things! Hello later-morning runs for me. Hello help getting the boys up and dressed. Hello more money. Hello part-time work (for me) permanently. Hello summers for me to do all sorts of fun summery-things with the boys. Hello new job opportunities and growth. Hello business cards. It's exciting and scary, but that's life, right?

P.S. More about the job: He will be giving support and training to those who teach in the IB and magnet programs in our county. Some days he will be in his office. Some days he will be out on school visits. It is all very exciting, i assure you.

P.P.S. I loved what you thought the news could be. New major callings? Me pregnant? A big move? A switch to only one (but whose??) income? Good ones!

Father's Day

I post this so you can tell your husbands how lucky they are to not be married to me. I mean, you certainly don't make him and your sons wear matching ties. Noooo, because that would be ridiculous. (Chuck's tie is reversible so he can match either son, but not both at the same time.)

What is Chuck Up To?

Today marks the return to full-time work for me. It therefore marks the return of Chuck to full-time SAHD-hood. (It's short-lived, however, as tomorrow evening we head west for a family reunion.) What will Chuck do all summer, you ask? Among the kid-watching, grocery shopping, and house cleaning, THIS.


Yes, it is what it looks like. Can you believe this thing is in my house? I can. I know one of my faults is "ranking hobbies." Clearly running and sewing are superior to gaming, right? RIGHT. [ End sarcasm font.] So I'm trying to overcome that fault by supporting my husband. He built this (from a kit), did all the programming (not from a kit), and set it up. He also believes he'll make more friends. In adapted words from Field of Dreams, "If Chuck builds it, they will come." We'll see.

It's a Chucklas Miracle

Some months ago the soap-bar-turned-soap-sliver in our shower was miraculously replaced by an actual bar. What's so miraculous about that? I didn't do it. It was a Chucklas Miracle. Since then, a small number of these miracles have occurred. Ten days ago, Chuck started the boys' laundry before I got home from work. It was awesome. But the best Chucklas Miracle was last week when the washing machine was leaking a lot. A lot a lot. My response: call the Maytag repairman and pay who-knows-how-much-more-than-$125. That was also Chuck's first response. His second response, however, was to look at the owner's manual and see if there was anything helpful. His third response was to look online in search of more helpful tips. After about 15 minutes, the leaky tube was found, patched, and a replacement purchased for $16. If I were a nicer, richer wife, I'd surprise him with the $109 we saved. But because I'm not that wife, he gets a post on my blog.

P.S. Because this post is supposed to make Chuck look good, I'll confess: Remember the I Spy, Chuck Doesn't series? We had a very bad "I Didn't Spy, Chuck Did" on Wednesday. Part of a sippy cup stopper-thingy was not spotted by me in the dishwasher. Alas, Chuck found it immediately. See, I can be nice!

P.P.S. Some of you may know that many years ago, I used to call Chuck "Chucklas." It came from a friend whose name is Doug, whom we sometimes called Douglas, which once came out toward Chuck as Chucklas. These days I don't use it so much. Usually now it's just "HEY YOU."

Only Because People Keep Saying It

This man most resembles:

A) a beatnik poet/musician

B) an English professor

C) a good dad of two cute little boys, one not pictured (this option for those of you with no imagination)

D) other: ___________________ (please fill in the blank)

Happy New Year!

Because the new year doesn't start until tomorrow, we want to be the first to say "Happy New Year!" And if someone else has already said that to you, well, I'm totally okay with that. This picture doubles as a new year's photo and our 8th anniversary photo. We crack me up.

How We Parallel Play

Tell me you do this too. I mean, honestly. Could we have more electronics out?