Brrrr

Attention. This is an Iguana. Please don't be fooled by his soft and gentle looking appearance. He could bite you at any time if provoked, and oh yeah, he'll try to steal the fruit out of your fruity rum drink if you let him so WATCH OUT!

Man, it's cold here. But in all honesty, I haven't felt as cold as I thought. While living it up in the 85 degree weather I kept thinking "boy, it's going to suck when we go home to the cold." But really so far it hasn't. I mean geez, it's not like I work outside all day in it or something shoveling. Before we left St. Thomas Dennis threw his jeans into our carry-on bag. He was already wearing wind pants but said he might need to put them on over those pants when we landed in Boston. I was like "what the frick, we're not WALKING home from the airport ya know!"

So we are home, and although we had a FABULOUS time, relaxing and sipping drinks by the ocean, all the wonderful things you are supposed to do on an all inclusive second honeymoon type vacation, I was missing the kids and so happy to get home to them. There is only so many days you can lay around in the sun, sipping Pina Colada's and eating. Apparently my threshold is 4, although I'm sure I could have sucked it up for 1 or 2 more days if I had to.

So how was St. Thomas? In short, different and fabulous. The weather was wonderful, our first 3 days were not too hot, just warm with a beautiful soft breeze. Then the clouds cleared, the wind died down and it got pretty downright hot. But still good. I must say though, my HAIR hates St. Thomas. It is an enemy of St. Thomas and I'm not sure they should meet again for a while. From the instant I stepped off the plane and onto the tarmac, feeling the warm fragrant air touch my skin, my hair became insane. There is no other word for it. It was just insane. Frizzy. Sticking up in weird directions. About 2 inches shorter than when we left Boston. It even looked an odd color to me, and there was nothing I could do with it for the entire trip. Nothing at all. Luckily there was no one I knew there who cared what my hair looked like, so it didn't make too much of a difference. Usually I forgot about it until I happened by a mirror and then realized with a start that I was just not looking my best. Oh well. But our trip was still great, we had a good time and relaxed together, which we did need. The kids were so well taken care of, I hardly worried at all. When we talked to them they said they missed us, Abbey was a little pissed because we hadn't taken her with us, and Jack mostly sounded distracted. I know it is because he was watching t.v. I have huge and giant thanks for my Aunt Gail, my cousin Colleen and my parents, but most of my thanks have to go to Uncle Matt & Caitlin, you had the most child fun filled hours logged onto the spreadsheet. You guys were awesome. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, this many people rotated taking care of the kids while we were gone, and yes, I did have a spreadsheet. Excel. It takes a village people!

So I will have some more pictures to share later, and more stories I'm sure, but for now I am just tired and must go to bed. Our flight yesterday was 4 hours delayed, getting us home at 12:45 am at which point I couldn't settle down and fall asleep, even though I had to get up at 6:30 for work and to get the kids off to school. It's catching up with my now. Thank goodness for the time change. My internal St. Thomas clock thinks it is still only 9. Phew.

Winter

This winter is kicking my ass. There is no other way to put it. Usually I can get through the 3 (or 4 or 5!) months that really constitute the winter season but this year has been an exception, I think for everyone. That ice storm threw everything and everyone in the area for a complete and total loop, making every snowflake, every droplet of ice, every SCHOOL CANCELLATION that much more dramatic. Its like we all are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and just can't take any more. We have the inability to put up with even one more storm. Usually by mid-January if y0u hear of a nice snowstorm coming you say to your friends and neighbors things like, "looks like we might get a good one, I love snow days and being home with the kids for a day in our jammies, drinking hot chocolate and playing games." I've been known to utter these words "I love when it snows, it covers up everything else in the yard and makes everything so beautiful." BUT NOT THIS YEAR. This morning the mini-van got stuck in the side of the yard (I've been parking there, next to the trailer, so that we can keep the driveway clear for the contractor). I kept trying and trying to break it free, rocking back and forth like you are supposed to while the tires smoked and screeched, but to no avail. I was completely stuck, while the kids stared at me and Jack said encouraging things like "yay, guess I can't go to school if we are stuck, whoopee!" The thing is, perhaps if this had been another winter I might have brought us all back into the house, called the day a mental health day and had another cup of coffee. But NOT THIS WINTER. These children are not missing one more day of school and if I had to carry them there on my back they were going. In the end Dennis came out and tried, also to no avail. He had to tie us up to the Subaru and pull us out. The good old Subaru. Always trusty and true in the snow. I must admit that my mini-van has lost some of its sparkle with its disappointing performance this winter, but I still love it. Maybe it just needs some new tires. Maybe the weight of all of the dirt and mud caked onto it is slowing it down.

So winter is kicking my ass, but at least I have an escape. That's right people, I leave at 3 am tonight (tomorrow morning?) for the airport. We are OFF like a prom dress (well, not my prom dress mom & dad) to St. Thomas for our fabulous vacation, a second honeymoon if you will. First I have to get through today though. It cracks me up, Dennis gives me this "gift" for Christmas. He went to a travel agent, handed over our "emergency" credit card and "SURPRISE HONEY" look what I did. OK, OK, I will admit that at first I was not too happy, but then I started to look forward to it and am actually craving my feet not being freezing, my breath not catching in my chest when I step outside. First though I had to arrange full-time child care for Jack and Abbey (this involves an Excel spreadsheet stuck on the fridge). Then print out a list of emergency numbers, figure out how we were going to get to the airport, home from the airport, pack our summer clothes, clean the trailer, do laundry, grocery shop so that kids and caregivers alike would have food, set up who is taking Jack to Cub Scouts Thursday, write directions to Abbey's gymnastics place and then call and confirm with everyone involved 3 times that we all knew the "plan". Oh, and also go to the bank, get money for the trip (tips and so forth), play phone tag with the insurance adjuster, finally get money from the insurance company, write a check for the contractor, pick out new carpets & flooring, get new light fixtures, . . . . . . . oh wait, my head just flew off. Geez, this is a really relaxing present he got me so far.

The kids seem thrilled we are leaving, which I must admit is a little disheartening. It's not like I want them wailing and crying, but maybe a small "oh, I'll miss you" might be nice. Last night they were doing this little dance of joy thing together at the fact that we were going away. I suppose it sounds exciting to them, all of these different people watching them, probably not making them go to bed or eat their vegetables, but I'm sure after 2 or 3 days that will get old. Luckily that is just about the time the weekend hits, Uncle Matt & Aunty Caitlen arrive and the 24 hour video game craft making game playing story reading smorgasbord begins. I just hope that they brush their teeth while I'm gone, at least 3 or 4 times. OK, at least once.

Enjoy the rest of the week everyone, it's supposed to be about 7 degrees Friday. Hee hee . . . . .