DC

Right after moving I hopped a plane for DC, yet again. A small but measurable improvement this trip was that I must finally have enough frequent flier miles with USAirways that I'm allowed to sit in the exit row now which means early boarding and more leg room - hooray! It's the little things in life really... :)

This trip was for some meetings, which went pretty well, so that's good. Otherwise, I tried to fill the week with friends - I had dinner with Preetha one night at our favorite vegetarian Chinese place, the next night I went home with Ayelet for dinner and to meet her baby - and I got to read him the book I gave him, which he loved - we also watched him trying to teach himself how to roll over!, and I was able to cram in breakfast with Whitney (who had been in Tampa for meetings that week) and lunch with Glynnis on my last day in DC before coming home. It was great to see everyone and catch up. Although it was relatively warm in DC this time around, I could tell winter was waiting in the wings. I had to don my first socks and "real" shoes of the season which also meant my first angry blisters of the season. Lovely. I also had to bring my summer suit home and will return in December with my winter suit.

The week was definitely a blur and it was a huge relief to be home to tackle more boxes and start painting all the trim on the house.

Settling In

We finally moved in at the beginning of November - hooray! You can see a few pictures of the chaos on our Picasa site.

Friday the floors in the back half of the house were finally dry from the sanding and refinishing so we were able to carefully move some things into the back rooms. We started trying to assemble our IKEA closet set up and were soundly defeated by it. We stayed up late trying to prep for the next day of moving and by the end felt like we hadn't accomplished a fraction of what we needed to before heading back to the island.

Saturday, Nov 6th finally arrived and we had a slow start that morning while we packed the cars with all our remaining clothes and stuff while the kids were left on the island for the day. As our caravan pulled up, Mark and Annette met us out front with our first CSA share of veggies - they were angels and picked it up for us then delivered it to our door! We entered the house and found the cleaning crew working to tidy things up (you would not believe how much chalk-like dust and sanding wood dust gets all over EVERYthing - it leaves a nasty thick layer everywhere). It was a huge life-saver to have the cleaning crew there so we didn't have to deal with cleaning and moving. We unloaded the cars then got to work - Wade and Larry attacked closet assembly while Mom and I unpacked the kitchen after Steve had finished with the pressed-tin backsplash. We beavered away until lunch time when we ran a few errands for things we needed before getting Thai food, then came back for more unpacking and assembling of closets until dinnertime. At that point we sent Mom and Larry home to check on the kids while Wade and I finished assembling our new bed and hung privacy curtains in our bedroom. We were determined to sleep there that night, but clearly had not accomplished a fraction of what we wanted to. Sigh. So we headed back to Anna Maria to meet Mom and Larry for sushi on the island before packing the kids in the car. We made it back to St. Pete pretty late, and spent the next few hours tidying up and getting the kids settled in. We went to bed around 2am and left the bedroom doors open for the cats to find us. After a night of exploring they finally came in to snuggle in the morning.

The next morning we were up early orienting the kids to their new home. The cats were particularly enthralled with the idea of the spiral staircase and the attic and took to chasing each other up and down the stairs. They also seemed highly entertained with all the boxes and packing paper scattered around the house. The dogs were enjoying their new yard and particularly the neighbor pug dog that wiggles between the fence to sneak into our yard. Our dogs took to her immediately and proceeded to wander the yard with her while they sniffed each other and peed on things. After breakfast Mom and Larry showed up for round two. I was so relieved I could have cried. Larry assembled some shelves for our clothes and linens while Mom and I continued to plow through the kitchen and dining room boxes. For lunch, we walked to the local "better for you" fast food place, Evo. It was a lovely break being able to walk to get lunch and enjoy the beautiful day. A nice surprise was running into an old friend I grew up with, Brett, and his wife Meaghan and their baby Evelyn. They live in St Pete too and we've been trying to connect with them so it was funny to randomly run into them. We love how St Pete has big city amenities, but can feel like a small town when you run into people you know! After lunch we kept plowing through boxes until Mom and Larry went home. At that point I began packing my suitcase for my flight to DC the next day. It was really difficult to leave with so much of the house in disarray, but I didn't really have a choice - my work travel seems to have a knack of butting up against my personal life. Ugh.

A St. Pete Halloween

Halloween weekend was filled with a flurry of activity this year for us - sadly, none of it involved us having our yearly Halloween party (snif).

However, on Saturday we did get our big IKEA excursion in, and introduced Mom and Larry to the wonders of IKEA (including their food). We now have an absurd amount of large boxes of stuff that will hopefully this weekend become our linen closet and our master closet (hooray!). Thankfully Mom and Larry brought their car or else we never would have gotten it all home (seriously, we barely made it with two cars... darn those long heavy boxes!).

Sunday brought the final day of the Susan G. Komen Walk for the Cure, a 3 day walk a thon (of 60 miles!) to raise money and awareness for the cure for breast cancer that our friend Katie was participating in. (I spent Saturday afternoon creating a motivational glitter poster for her and her sister who was also walking - lord, I love glitter pens) Her husband Dustin came to pick up Wade and I on Sunday morning and when I went out to great him I barely recognized him - he was dressed as Hulk Hogan - blond wig, blond trashy mustache, tight pants and all. Once I realized it was not some strange woman in front of our house I laughed so hard I snorted. One thing I should mention is that Dustin is tall and lanky, so he looked just like the Hulk - but possibly as a meth addict. :) Dustin had been cheering on the walkers all weekend (there are cheering stations to help keep everyone's spirits up) so he knew the drill - we needed a sign: check, we needed costumes: um, sort of, we needed pink: hmmm.... Wade did his best to locate our stash of halloween costumes, but we only found the bits that were entirely too hot to wear outside in the sun. What to do... So, I dressed in my beach bummiest clothes, hat, and glasses, added shell jewelry, and my giant sparkly pink fairy wings to meet all the requirements as the Beach Fairy. Not my best, but it was convenient. :) Next we turned to Wade... even the stringbean-Hulk was wearing a pink feather boa, so we needed something pink for him, despite his severe aversion to the color. (During the 3 day race all the walkers, support vehicles, and volunteers are dressed in the trademark pink and most have crazy costumes, especially this year since it was Halloween). So we hopped in the car on a mission to find Wade a costume and something pink. You gotta love Walgreens because I was able to piece together a nice little number in just a matter of minutes....

We finally made it to the cheering station, got our costumes on, grabbed our signs, and found a spot to cheer on the worn out walkers (they were at about mile 52 I think) - every time a pack of beat-down people passed us (mostly women, but some men supporting wives or sisters or daughters) they laughed and loved the support. - Now here is where I tell you the sexiest thing my husband has done, possibly ever - his costume was a pink t-shirt, black fairy wings, a pink feather angel halo, and a wand (with his cargo shorts and flip flops). He was a great sport and the walkers loved his and Dustin's dedication to cheer them on and keep their spirits up with humor. So many girls took pictures of them, smiled, and thanked them for the laugh on such a brutally hot day. Once Katie and her sister arrived we cheered extra loud and it was great to be there to support her on such a big day. After they continued on we stayed to cheer until the walkers were gone before heading to lunch. Wade and I de-costumed, but the Hulk stayed in character and the folks at Tijuana Flats loved him. :)

After that we headed home to do some work around the house and prep for our block party. Our neighbors and those up one block all are around the same age, have kids about the same age, and all seem to be generally nice laid back people that actually know each other and hang out. What a totally different story from anywhere else we lived! They actually blocked off our street and we had a pot luck dinner in the street. It was great! We even found out that quite a few of the neighbors are vegetarian or vegan and seem to be pretty open-minded people, so that was a really nice discovery. After we talked and met most of our neighbors they did a little kids costume parade (there were about 25 adults and almost twice as many kids!) and we handed them candy. Once it was dark the families banded together to go trick or treating - yes, they actually walked unlike the other lazy folks around here who won't even leave their cars to walk the block with their kids. At that point we grabbed what candy we had left, turned out the house lights, and booked it for Annette and Mark's house about 13 blocks south of us in the heart of the Halloween hysteria. St Pete, and our neighborhood in particular puts on quite a show - literally. A few blocks away from Mark and Annette's they shut down the street all weekend and do professional quality productions - we're talking hired professional choreographed dancers (Thriller was the big one last year), pyrotechnics, movies projected on the sides of houses, haunted animatronic lawns and houses to walk through, fire dancers, etc. It's incredible. However, this year, we were so pooped, we were happy to just hang out with Mark and Annette until the candy was gone and it was baby Noah's bath time. We definitely had a great day, but were wiped out on the ride home. The 2 hours a day in the car is taking it's toll, but we're so close to being done that it's almost unbearable. Keep your fingers crossed that our flooring folks can get their act together and we can actually get into the house this weekend before I leave for DC.

Home Stretch

It's amazing how one can really take the simple things in life for granted - like toilets or a sink. For example, for the last few weeks I've been working at our St Pete house in my home office while the contractors hammered, cut, grouted, drilled, and trimmed out just below me. While this hasn't been the best thing in the world, it has made things go a little faster when I am there to answer questions. It has been difficult, particularly when we've had no bathrooms, running water, or a kitchen. So I have to take a packed lunch everyday, bring enough water to drink, and use a porta potty (or hold it). I've seen our tile floors, cabinets, shower enclosure, counter tops, trim, and finally watched our toilets, sinks, and appliances go in. I about threw a parade when I could use a real toilet again! We're so close to done, but now we're waiting for a few things to finish in the kitchen and we had a hold up from the flooring folks which are working on refinishing the back half of the house now.

I have also come to really love my attic office - bright natural light, fun colors, and a bamboo shrouded window for a view. I can't wait for the cats to see it - I can imagine them creeping up the spiral stair case and peering over the edge to watch me work. They are a vital part of my work day and they help keep the stress level down, so it's been kind of a bummer not having them around for the past few weeks.

We're missing our Halloween move-in deadline, which stinks, but we should be in next weekend for sure. We are chomping at the bit to do so. This weekend we're hoping to meet our neighbors during a neighborhood block party and do some final shopping at IKEA for our closet system and storage.

So close... yet so far away!

Michigan

We headed to Michigan in mid-October to attend Jason and Rachel's wedding outside of Battle Creek, Michigan. It was the perfect time of year to go - the weather was refreshingly cool and the leaves were turning beautiful shades of red, gold, and glowing orange.

We flew into Detroit on Friday and rented a car to drive across the state to Marshall, MI where we were staying. It was a beautiful and uneventful 1.5 hour drive. Once we dropped our stuff in the hotel we headed into historic downtown Marshall for an early dinner because I was starving. We found a little "Mexican" place - but tellingly, there was not a single person of Mexican descent in the restaurant and there was gravy on the menu. Yeeeeaaah. So we ordered our food with a side of gravy, because "when in Rome"... right? Out came a giant steaming plate with some excellent guacamole, soupy beans, and tortillas fried and buttered. The gravy was brown and reminiscent of Thanksgiving, but it was spicy so it made for the most alluring combination. Wade folded in the towel early, but after practically licking my plate clean, I finally thought I'd have to be rolled out of there. It was definitely not Mexican food, but it was greasy and good and we're certain we have enough fat to survive the winter now. :) That night we met up with Jason and Rach for a drink after their rehearsal dinner. It was great to be able to steal a little one on one time with them, and hear that despite the fact they've been together 13 years, they were feeling wedding jitters, but in a good way.

On Saturday morning, Wade and I relished in something we hadn't done in months - we slept in, lounged in bed, and watched cooking shows on Food Network. It was lazy and it was glorious. We finally drug ourselves out of bed to wander downtown Marshall some more and we explored our first antique shops. Now that we're the owners of an antique house, we have a new appreciation for old things. It was like treasuring hunting as we picked through rooms and stacks of kitchen goods, decorations, and books. We found a few small things, then went to have lunch at a local diner. This time we discovered the beauty of grilled homemade cinnamon rolls (to die for!), and Wade discovered that in Michigan they use bacon as a garnish instead of parsley. Haha. After another greasy feast we headed back to clean up for the wedding.

The wedding was at an herb farm in the countryside - the trees were glowing in fall colors and the flowers were blooming in the chilly air. The ceremony location was in a beautiful little cove of flowers and trees under the shining sun and bright blue sky. The wedding began and I got one shot of Jason before... my camera promptly died and refused to take more pictures. (You are dead to me camera, dead!)

So I am embarrassingly short on a visual way to describe how dapper Jason looked and how radiant Rachel was. (You may remember that earlier this year Rach came to Sarasota to look for a dress and we found the perfect one for her) Rachel was glowing as she came down the aisle and when Wade whispered "Wow, you're right, she looks incredible in that dress" I started to cry. Don't know why, but I did - when did I become a wedding crier?! (Oh right, Marilyn's wedding in July.) It's been so much fun getting to know Jason and Rachel over the last 6 years and to see them finally get married was just wonderful. The ceremony went off without a hitch, the pastor gave a lovely sermon about how choosing to get married after 13 years of being together really says something about the institution of marriage and how love means continuing to say "yes". After the bride and groom sealed it with a kiss, we flowed into the reception area for drinks (including a fabulous hot toddy - did I mention it was cold out?!) and we got to talk to the pastor and meet more of Jason and Rachel's family. Before the reception I slipped into the back room to help Rach change out of her veil and put in the mother of pearl flower I wore at our wedding. The flower looked absolutely perfect in her hair amidst the garden setting and it was so special to be able to share it with her.

The bride and groom kicked off the reception by pulling out the stops on the dance floor to put on a show for the guests with a dance filled with dips and twists. We shared laughs with some of their friends from college and by the end of the night found ourselves swapping stories about the happy couple with their families. Everyone we met was warm and friendly and by the end of the evening we felt like family.

The next morning we headed to the inn the bride and groom were staying at for a farm fresh brunch. We were greeted by teeny weeny fuzzy kittens that made my heart melt. They had that general effect on everyone as we proceeded to pass them around and snuggle them. Breakfast was hearty and we enjoyed the cool air (with a sweater and thinking I should have worn a scarf) while we met more of the other guests and talked to the bride and groom. We eventually said good bye and headed back into town to see a few more shops and have lunch before heading back to Detroit. We arrived early, had some bad airport food and killed time until our flight. We finally made it home very late on Sunday night, and were greeted by the kids at the door. They clearly had a pampered weekend at home with their grandparents - which always makes it easier to travel knowing the kids are in good hands.

Congratulations Jason and Rachel! :)

Progress

So things are moving along, but given my travels in October, we actually had to throw in the towel and... hire the painters to finish the house. We had to wave the white flag of surrender when the plaster walls took two days longer to cure than they were supposed to leaving us no time to paint before I left for TX. And we needed to paint to get the rest of the work in the kitchen and bathrooms moving. In our defense, we did paint the den, dining room, fence, attic (walls and floor), guest bathroom, and we primed the master closet, laundry, and bathroom. But we didn't even touch our bedroom, breakfast nook, or kitchen. It was humiliating, but our contractors handled it with grace when they could see we were beaten, and nicely asked "Would you like me to call the painter?". "Uh, hell yes please" was our response. We were spent. So much for thinking we were handy enough to paint. Sigh. Check out our progress so far here on our Picasa site (the bottom half are the newer pictures).

We have also tried to mix in some fun and right after I returned from TX we went to St. Pete Oktoberfest with some friends for beer (cider for me) tasting. We went with Mark and Annette and eventually found Katie and Dustin too. We had fun drifting between the beer tasting tables with me getting extra cups for everyone, then everyone returning the favor for me when we got to the cider booth. :) At the end of the night we were pretty pooped and headed back to our house to grab the kids (we'd spent all day in town so we brought everyone - the cats freaked out but enjoyed burrowing in the boxes). We were tired, it was late, and we thought we were going to have softball practice the next day... and a thought occurred to us. Let's camp out in the house! So we did - we got out our camping gear and set up the dining room as our campsite (below Marley is checking to see if the bed meets his standards):

So it wasn't the best sleep we've ever had - 2am pee run to the porta potty (ick!) and cats stomping all over us. But, it was technically our first night in our house and it was really fun. :) Camping in the air conditioning is pretty sweet actually.

The next morning we high tailed it back to Anna Maria to prep the house for Mom and Larry's return from NC. We moved back into the guest bedroom and they moved back in. So we're a full house now, but the kids love having the extra attention, and it's made it a lot easier for us to leave the kids at home all day - especially while Carmel is undergoing chemotherapy. And it's always nice to have happy, supportive, loving people around - we need that right now as the house renovations are entering a brutal period of big decisions and flying by the seat of our pants on what is going to look good - cabinets for instance, what the heck do we know about cabinets!? But now we have live in moral support, so that's nice. :)

Galveston, TX

The first weekend of October we broke ground on the house - we put in a new fence and sidewalk which really gave Miss Magnolia a nice face lift. They both turned out beautifully thanks to our contractors so we were incredibly relieved and the house looks so much better. (Thanks to Katie and Dustin for being good sports and helping us paint said fence!)

After that weekend I packed up and headed to Galveston, TX for a work retreat. My co-worker, Michelle, and I flew together, so it was nice to have some company. It had been a while since we'd seen each other (now that we're working from home and not sharing an office anymore) that we also roomed together at the retreat. We had a lot of fun, but admittedly, as Florida beach snobs, we had a hard time getting into enjoying a retreat at a beachside location. After all, we had left warm, clear turquoise waters, glorious sunsets, and sugar white sand beaches. We had been warned by Wade that Galveston would not be what we expected of a Gulf beach (he was there in June for a meeting)... and he was right.

Exhibit A: When we got up early every morning for our work meetings, this was the sight in the distance:

Yes, that's right - those black spots are DOZENS of oil tankers just barely offshore waiting to get into the port of Houston. Um... yeah. We're used to flocks of pelicans and seagulls, not this view. If you look closely, you'll see about 14 tankers, and this was a zoomed in shot - we actually could see almost 50 in the distance - apparently there was a hold up in the port channel, but still, this was pretty shocking.

Exhibit B: When we all went to dinner on the last night at a waterfront seafood bar, this was the lovely sunset view of the water:

Yeah. That's an oil rig being worked on in the center - we were taking in the full view of a working port and it was again, pretty shocking. This definitely made Michelle and I grateful that Floridians have placed a higher value on the natural areas of the state as a basis for a tourism economy rather than letting our beautiful coast turn to this. The best way to describe Galveston was... industrial.

Enough of that, the meetings were good - it's always great to see friends. But, I have to admit, usually I'm a bit... dare I say.... bored at these meetings. The simplest way to explain - I LOVE seeing everyone and hearing what they're up to and getting to know my coworkers better, what I don't love is being the ONE person NOT working on the same subject as everyone else. And no, I am not exaggerating. All 49 of my coworkers focus on fisheries (recreational and commercial) and all contribute to a larger overarching goal. I work on creating standards for the trade in coral reef wildlife. This means lots and lots and lots... and lots of meetings where I listen to lots of presentations and discussions that don't really help me advance the thinking on my work. It gets old, but I like my co workers, so I keep myself going by waiting for the social parts. :) However, this time was a shade different - I was asked to talk for 10 minutes to tell a story about what I do - to 60 people including our VP. This... shall we say, had me crapping my pants. Where to start with a group of people who really don't have a fricken clue what I do (expect my closest coworkers of course)? So I went through a few versions of the story and practiced about a dozen times before giving it - it was pure story telling, no pictures or presentation, which is difficult, nowadays people expect something, but I was to go au natural. I told the story of a big meeting I lead for my work back in August with a senior staffer (ie decision maker) of the most powerful member of the U.S. Senate. I mixed in some humor and during the course of the story was actually able to teach people about my program. And... I got rave reviews. People listened and they actually came up afterwards to tell me they wanted to learn more and were excited about what I do, which was pretty exciting.

It was a quick trip, and I was happy to be home, but it felt a little more satisfying this time around to, even for a little bit, be swimming with the school, so to speak.