seven years

2000 2007 .

Happy Anniversary, babe. I love you.

a little of this, a little of that

Matt's out of town this week and I couldn't fall asleep last night. Instead, I stayed up way too late browsing blogs, jumping from one to another.

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I wish I was the guy who invented blogger.

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It's huge. Sometimes I feel closer to my blogging friends that I do my real life friends. It's a crazy, intriguing web of interpersonal relations and connections.

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Blog surfing was a nice sort of detox after watching the Heroes season premiere. That is a dark but terribly addicting, well written show. Premiere week continues tonight with night two of Dancing with the Stars.

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I'm all geared up to do pilates while I watch my shows each night. I've taken a little vacation from my usual exercise routine since school started up. I decided I was getting enough exercise taking kids to and from school. We live so close to both Garrett and Ethan's schools that I can't justify driving. I speed walk with the stroller while Garrett rides his bike or we all bike with the bike trailer.

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Despite the cardio activity, my lingering gut still looks like I could be sporting a start of another pregnancy. Since Lydia's now over 18 months and given my track record, I'd like to avoid those sideways glances of suspicion if I can. It's time to get back into my pilates routine.

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This week seemed like a good time to start. TV is usually a good motivator for me (since I convinced myself that TV is a waste of time if I'm not multitasking), and I always look forward to premiere week. Yesterday was the first official day of fall, and premiere week is really the only thing around here that feels like fall.

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I miss New Jersey in the fall. Are you wearing sweaters there yet? Have you been apple picking? I tried making apple crisp the other day, but it just isn't the same if it's hot and sunny outside. I love California. I grew up in California and the sunshine is fabulous. But now that I've actually experienced seasons, I kind of like them.

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I miss Matt too. I keep thinking about something ~j. once said. She said that when her husband is gone, she misses him. Not his help, but him. I've tried to keep that in mind. It's easy to get wrapped up in the demands of being a mom and it sometimes feels like that role comes first. It shouldn't. I really do miss him. I miss his help too, but I miss him more.

Good Saturday

Rain

outside

Leftover pizza, naps, BYU football, quilting, and family

inside

Soccer

So, what actually qualifies someone to be a "soccer mom" ? Do I need to have a special haircut or special window stickers on my minivan? . .

If it's just having a super excited son play soccer each Saturday and scheduling our day around the blessed event, then I think I'm in.

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Today was Garrett's second soccer game of the season. He loves it, and it's perfect for him. They just practice for 30 minutes before the game each week, don't keep score, and don't have goalies. They just get to play.

It's so funny to watch a bunch of 5 years olds chase a ball around the field.

Ethan goes to preschool

Ethan started preschool this week. He was so anxious to start "his school" that after much deliberation, we decided to sign him up.

He loves it, and is already the teacher's favorite (she told me today, even though she said she's not supposed to have a favorite).

He seems to be doing well. I was the obnoxious mom lurking around the classroom and peeking in the window at various times during the morning on the first day. He looked like he was having fun, didn't have any trouble going to the restroom on his own, and was happy to go back the second day, so I think this will be a good thing!

Do you like his wrinkled shirt? We were almost late...

pros, cons, and the honest truth

When Matt started talking to Chevron a year and a half ago, we knew international assignments would be part of the deal. After a short initial hesitation, we quickly jumped on board with full enthusiasm.

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Since then, the reality of it has been looming somewhere in the future. We've been excited about it, planning for it, but talking about it as if it were still somewhere far off along the distant horizon of our lives. However, our little adventure in South America is rapidly coming upon us. We're leaving the first of January, and I feel the anxiety coming on.

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We just found out that our official assignment won't come until mid-October. The unknown is what's driving me nuts. I'm a planner. I'm an organizer. I want to start making my checklists and arrangements (remember this?). Having to postpone my preparations is going to drive me insane.

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Anxiety #1: I don't even know there to begin to pack. Movers will pack up our things and put them in storage with our furniture, but I have to decide what to take with us and I'm totally perplexed over it. 6 months is too long to pack as if it were a vacation, and it's too short to pack as if we're moving there.

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Anxiety #2: How do I plan for the 15 hour flight? 3 kids; 15 hours of flying. That's with the most direct route. Then add in layovers and time changes, it'll probably feel like we're flying for two days.

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Anxiety #3: I think I might be just a big talker. I'm excited, I'm up for the adventure- but how am I really going to fare all day while Matt's at work and I'm at home with three kids in a foreign country? Seriously, I cried the first month we were in New Jersey (which felt a bit like a foreign country). That was absolutely a kind of preparatory period for me. Maybe I'm tougher now than I think I am. But maybe not enough.

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Anxiety #4: Occasionally this: What are we thinking dragging our kids around the world? I know some of you have that same thought too.

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On the other hand- We know this is the right thing for us. This is the right career for Matt, an incredible experience for our family, and an opportunity to serve.

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My kids will learn things about another culture, about tolerance, and about being grateful for what we have in a way that I could never teach them myself.

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I can't wait to get Garrett out of California public school and into international private school. Kindergarten is probably the easiest grade for a change like this. Garrett has amazed us with his ability to adapt to school, and I'm sure he'll be just fine and quickly make new friends. He'll probably thrive with a little more challenging curriculum.

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We'll go sightseeing on the weekends (or at least every once in a while), learn a new language, and be exposed to a new culture. Our family will have the adventure of our lives.

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(For those of you concerned about our physical welfare, rest assured we'll be fine. Chevron will take care of us. We'll have access to excellent health care and excellent education for the kids. We'll be in safe, modernized area. We'll even have our own driver. Although, if you're that worried about us, you may just have to come and visit to see for yourself.)

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So where does that all leave me? Right where I started, but I know there are those of you out there that have done this before (or are doing it now). I'm listening...

from the Redwood forest...

These are some tall trees!

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Yesterday, we took a short litte drive to nearby Muir Woods National Monument, north of San Francisco. It is the only old-grown coastal Redwood Forest in the Bay area. It was so cool! The tallest tree in the forest is over 252 feet, and some are at least 1000 years old. It was incredible. I can't even imagine the tallest tree in Redwood National Park (a bit further north) which was measured at 379 feet.

a little tax check-up

I'm not an accountant, but I'm a total math nerd and secretly love doing our taxes each year. I'm so much of a nerd that even though I do our taxes using H&R Block Tax Cut, I still do a pencil/paper version on the side to make sure my calculations would have been accurate if I'd done them myself.

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Since we aren't students anymore and have a real job and it seemed we were paying Uncle Sam a load of taxes, I thought I'd check into it and see if Matt's claiming enough withholding on his paychecks.

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I found this great withholding calculator on the IRS website. It takes into consideration your projected income for the year, you current year-to-date tax withholdings, and asks a few other simple tax questions. Then it magically estimates what your 2007 tax return would be and gives you a suggested number of allowances you should be withholding on your paychecks. It took me less than ten minutes to do.

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I laughed right outloud and nearly fell off my chair when I read my results.

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Matt should resubmit his W-4 form and change his claim from 5 alllowances to 39 allowances.

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You're welcome, Uncle Sam, for the heftly, interest-free loan we have given you these last three months. It will end now. And I'll be filing for that tax return on February 1st.

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Maybe I should start using an accountant. Here's the link again, in case you are as clueless as us and want to give your own taxes a little check-up:

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withholding calculator

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why I love fridays

Well, I don't really know how to come off that last post. I received more comments on that one than any other (thank you, by the way) that maybe I should only tell you about my bad days. I will strive to have a better emotional balance in my blog, right after this one.

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I apologize for jumping right back in to the happy, rosy stuff but I really want to tell you about my fabulous Fridays. This is one beautiful aspect of my life I have not yet bragged about. And it is brag worthy.

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Matt gets every other Friday off. The Fridays he works, he's home no later than 4 pm. It's really, really beautiful. His work is a short 5 minute bike ride from our house. Since we're pretty certain we will never has such ideal circumstances, we're living it up while we can.

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Today, we picked Garrett up from Kindergarten and headed into San Francisco for a little picnic in Alamo Square. Garrett summed it up perfectly for us when Matt announced our plans to him,

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"Oh GREAT! We haven't taken a trip in a long time!"

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It's true. Since our trip to Boston in May, we have only gone to Redlands twice, Idaho and Utah. I love it that they're growing accustomed to many family trips!

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Get used to it kids!

Postcard Row in Alamo Square

(Is anyone hearing the "Full House" theme song in their head?)

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We drove through Golden Gate Park and along the coast for a little while. We would have had a beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge if it weren't for the thick fog rolling in at an incredible rate. It was really cool to see it come in over the water and cover the city in a matter if minutes. It looked like special effects from a horror movie. I should have taken a picture.

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I did get these at the beach though:

This is going to be a good weekend.