How do you guys feel about a super long post? Nearly a quarter of the year has passed, and unsurprisingly we’ve managed to fill the weeks and months with both the mundane and the dramatic. I suppose it’s time to share some of those moments here before “super long post” turns into “encyclopedia of events”. That being said, this wouldn’t be a rarely updated blog if I didn’t make sure it was updated rarely though, now would it? So I don’t want to hear any complaints!
Thanks to Jake’s desire to beat Danny in ping-pong, our last three New Years have started with a tournament to see if Jake could beat Danny in ping-pong. Turns out he could. Enjoy your two-year winning streak, Jake. With the other players’ improvements, you may not get a three-peat. We’ll see you back here, same time, same place for the next 603 contest!😉
We’re all familiar with the clichéd adage “new year, new you”, but in the case of our puppy, it held mostly true. If by “new you” meant that she grew and she grew and she grew and not that her behavior was any different (read: better), then Vika has ‘filled out’ her resolution nicely. She also worked really hard on getting her ears to stand up and now she has two fluffy satellite dishes on the top of her head. Unfortunately, the only reception they get is the meat station and the cheese channel.
This winter has been jam-packed with basketball and snowstorms, both of which have kept the arms very busy in shooting and shoveling. James and Caleb realized their dreams of playing recreational basketball, and both of their respective teams did really well. As if I had a sloth’s time on vacation, I attended almost all of their games plus the ones the girls played in their high school league. Amazingly, I don’t think any of the snowstorms interfered with a single game. Also amazing was the amount of snow we’ve endured enjoyed this winter, giving us plenty of opportunities for aching backs, blistered hands, and stronger biceps. Thankfully, we have a snowblower named Danny instead.
After putting in months of Saturday morning rehearsals, the girls were finally able to perform in their youth orchestra’s winter concert. They played Tchaikovsky’s 5th Symphony and it. was. beautiful. If you have time like a sloth who’s on vacation, you should watch the whole hour long performance. If not, check out this shorter, less professional clip. Ellie and Anna are sitting in the front row, to the right (really, stage left, but our right) of the conductor, second and fourth from the end.
Somehow this year we’ve seen more of Jake than my food budget would like. Besides his surprise trip home in the fall, followed by Thanksgiving, then Christmas and the winter break, he made another trip home mid-February to support the girls in their basketball tournament. Since the Lady Falcons placed first in their division, they once again made it to the State tournament. Before I let you read on in ignorant belief that their league is some high-end, highly competitive, high school level basketball, let me assure you that this is not that. Most schools’ athletics range from Division 1 to 3. This one is Division 17. That’s a made-up number, but it should set your expectations a little more appropriately. Despite the lower rank of the league, the girls played exceptionally well. They couldn’t secure the overall win, coming in third again this year, but it sure wasn’t from the lack of cheering led by Jake we all did.
That wasn’t the last time we saw Jake either, and we haven’t even reached spring break yet. As if I was a sloth on vacation, I took the time to visit him in Florida with Ellie and Anna. Since Jake was in control of the itinerary, we hardly had a moment to wonder what to do with our time. Brunch at this diner that serves the “best breakfast burrito ever”, then beach time, then game time on campus, after which we were chauffeured to the “ville” of Jackson to traipse up a bridge–after performing some special parkour moves to get on the right path, and no, I don’t have any pictures of me getting up over that barrier, but think of how a sloth climbs if he was pretending to be a hippo and that’s all I’ll say about that.
The sun rose the next morning on our drive to West Palm Beach. The three and a half hours passed faster than a sloth on vacation, and we were able to spend the day with many dear Christians and family. Time was too short, but we needed to get back for an earlier night before our very full and last day.
Jake worked a half day at the Mayo Clinic Monday, then we arrived for a tour. After spending time in the Anatomical Modeling Unit, Jake took us around the Mayo campus in a golf cart. It would have been way cooler if it hadn’t been so cool. Out of all of the things you expect from Florida (ever read their news?!), forty degree weather with winds up to 20 mph isn’t one of them. However, my three warm layers mostly helped, and we decided to throw caution to the wind, quite literally, and spend the rest of the day touring St. Augustine. Then it was time to sleep as much as we could before our 3:30 am hotel departure time for the flight back home.
Only joke’s on Jake because our flight was cancelled due to the snowstorm New Hampshire was participating in. We ended up getting two more days added to our girls’ trip which really made Jake happy. At least I think he was. He said, “It’s hard to fit in keeping you guys together and/or having to take all these extra trips to the hotel with my schedule and regular plans”, so I assumed he was enjoying the challenge as host. He did a great job and we had a great trip.
Speaking of trips, since ours was extended, we only had four days to prepare for a vacation of a very different kind.
Skiing.
A small word that strikes fear into the heart of one and excitement into the heart of the other and they end up married to each other. My first outing was spent on the baby-est of bunny hills, followed by a second outing on two specific green trails, where I tried to go as slowly as a sloth on vacation. I wouldn’t necessarily say I had a good time, but I did have a lot to say. Phrases like “Whoa, that’s too fast” and “slow down, Heidi, who do you think you are?” and “why can’t I get these skis parallel?” and “Oh, there’s the edge again. What do you say we try to turn away from that, left leg?” and “Why are there people?” escaped my lips frequently. At one point, my right leg kept trying to go on a field trip, but I managed to yank it back the way a professional wouldn’t and thus remained upright. I can only guess that it is the scratchy, well-worn, rose-tinted glasses my husband wears that allows him the patience to ride slowly behind me and put up with my ineptitude.
And that’s it. You all have been somewhat loquaciously, yet more than adequately brought up to speed on the recent goings-on in the Allan #5 family. Now we can return to the mundane, and maybe I’ll see you back here in three months.
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