off and running

A friend of mine recently returned from nearly two weeks away, and noted that there hadn't been a post in all that time. It seems hard to believe that I am busier now than in the summer, but it seems that way. Time is chopped into narrow chunks - 6 a.m. up (unless Thea wakes earlier, which seems to happen more often than not). Out the door by 7 a.m. to drive Liam to school. Liam gets dropped off at 7:45 a.m. Thea gets dropped off back at 8:10 at Nikki's. Then I have a little time. I can't get into the library until 9 a.m. at the earliest. So what have I been doing?

Running.

The first day I went, I barely made it a mile before I had to walk. The next time, maybe a mile and a half. By the end of that week, I had made a huge leap, running more than 3 miles. By the end of the second week, I was up to 4.5. Now I'm running 6.5 miles comfortably, with the exception of a swollen knee that I am ignoring with great resolution. It is, in short, the best thing I've done in months. I'm so excited to be seeing such progress. For years I chonked away at the gym and never broke 4 miles and never enjoyed it. But this, I love it. At the end of a run, I sometimes hit this point where I feel like I am flying. This week, I logged 24 miles of running. Crazy.

Some days, I go to Two Sisters and work, but more and more, I find myself turning the wheel toward the Spit, regardless of wind and rain. It just seems like a cleansing thing to do and I rarely regret it once I get out there. Now, if I can just get this knee thing under control.

But enough about me. Thea and Liam have been cruising through the busy weeks like typical American kids, rarely pausing long enough to breath. It's getting colder and darker, and since we've decided not to do Hawaii this year, that's intimidating. Thea is working on talking with great determination. She seems to grow a bigger personality every day, though that hardly seems possible. She's also very interested in being helpful, though not much of what she does actually is. It is a constant challenge to come up with new ways to include her in the day-to-day chores, as she loves doing them, and without direction, will gladly empty the entire dishwasher - the entire dirty dishwasher - onto the floor.

Liam has been experiencing cowboy poetry at school as a cowboy poet from Montana has been visiting the school. Tonight he was strumming his guitar and singing, "Oh, give me land, lots of land, under starry, starry skies, don't fence me in...." Too funny. He is also writing tons, much of it understandable in a wonderfully phonetic way. He's not as interested in reading yet, but writing seems to be his thing. Poor kid.

Matt's back from surfing adventures in Yakutat, and determined to get wood as the temperatures are dipping lower and lower. We've had one really hard freeze, and lots of crisp mornings. It seems early this year, but maybe it always seems that way.

Indian summer

Liam impersonating a Beatle from Sgt. Pepper


Liam and Nora, a very good friend of his with a similar dressing aesthetic


Karyn Noyes, one of the very first people to ever meet Théa, reading her a bedtime book


The Super-sized Swingset.


Alaska sure is putting on a show this summer, and gifting us with a Labor Day weekend like none in memory. Sunshine, t-shirt weather, gentle breeze to keep bugs at bay, so very very awesome. There might have been frost last night, but very subtle at best, but season's change is certainly in the air. The days are getting shorter, though it is still light until at least 9. The fireweed has all bloomed out, replacing its summer-time fushia blooms with crimson seed pods and white tufts of seeds. I am currently looking out onto the hills around the house where the setting sun is enhancing all these colors with an amber glow that makes it all seem a little surreal. The mountains don't have any snow-dusting covering them yet, and are more barren than I have ever seen them. The yard is so green it almost glows, thanks to volcanic ash and plenty of sunshine.

It's a fascinating thing about Alaska, though. Just when you start to finish your to-do list for the year, and can settle in a chair and enjoy it - fall hits, followed closely by winter. Fall in Alaska goes like this - one day, usually in October, it gets cold and all the leaves change color. About two days later, it rains and blows and all the leaves fall off. Then it is gray and rainy for most of the next two months. But hey, maybe this year will be the exception. One can always hope.

So today, instead of working on any of the practical things that need doing (windows in rental cabin, finishing painting of house, etc.) we assembled a gigantic swing-set. A friend of ours who moved to Anchorage said we could have their swing set, if we could move it. It turned out to be about 20 feet long and has room for a lot of stuff. Best of all, it has two swings, which both Thea and Liam loved so much during our time near the parks in Victoria. So I was thrilled. Finding a place for it, not to mention getting it here, took some effort, a few strained muscles and a couple of explatives, but we managed. We even finally buried the electricity line to the cabin that has been exposed for a very long time ... does the list of things like that ever shrink???

Anyway, we ended the day with a foray into the wilderness in search of blueberries. We found some - just enough to spend about 20 minutes picking and enjoying the warm, mossy ground, and the act of discovering and then eating straight from the source. Then we scooted into town and raided the sadly-ignored raspberry bushes of a nonprofit organization that will go unnamed to protect my family. It was an amazing day, a gift from the weather gods, really, and the cap to an extraordinary summer.

A week

It has now been over a week since I stopped nursing Thea, and really, it has been surprisingly easy - not something anyone who has read this blog more than once knows I often say about my little bundle of attitude.

Other than a couple rough bedtimes, she has mostly accepted this new development with ease - further evidence that she was emotionally ready. She has been very Mom-centric this week. I'm the only one she wants as an attendant and Matt's attempt to brush her teeth the other night resulted in a purple-faced choking session (her face, not his) that reminded me of the plane ride spazz-out. We've also done a lot of cuddling. But one great development is her interest in bedtime stories has increased exponentially. We've gone from one book once in a while to 3-4 books every night. That's an excellent trade, I'd say.

I've been trying to ease into some sort of a work-out regime as a result because 1. I need to get outside more 2. I don't want to put on 15-20 pounds like I did after weaning Liam and 3. I can't afford to buy new clothes if I did put on weight, so it's a win-win, as exercise always is. It's been a little slow-going. My cardio capacity has dwindled to non-existent and my leg muscles, though improved from extensive walking in Victoria, leave much to be desired. But I'll push through. I'm also excited about getting involved in the fire department again - hoping now I can reclaim some of my interests that have been shelved for 3 years now since I got preggo. And hockey! Bring on the hockey!

Liam made it through his first week of school relatively unscathed, but not without incident. There were tears the first few days, though he never let on (I got secret notes in his pockets from his teacher.) And then, on Tuesday he rode the bus home the first time. That worked out great, but on Wednesday, the bus driver let him off the bus before I got there. So I pulled up in the parking lot of the Methodist Church to find Liam peeing on the lawn, tears streaming down his face because I hadn't been there when he got off the bus. Poor little guy. He rebounded and all went better the next two days, but wow. That's a memory I won't soon forget.

First day

Today was Liam's first day at school. Perhaps the most telling part of the day came when Matt woke Liam up at 6:20 in the morning. "Time to get up," said Matt. "Are you sure," asked Liam.

Getting to school on time is the greatest challenge of these new days of school. McNeil Canyon is a 40 minute drive away, and starts at 7:50 a.m. I wanted to be there a few minutes early for the first day, so we set out at 6:50 a.m. It turned out not to take us quite as long as I thought. We were the second or third ones there.

Liam was fine with the whole thing - to the untrained eye. He marched right in the door, gave the principal a high five, and his new teacher, Mrs. Dee, a big hug. He went into the gym with Mo and played a game, never even glancing back. But I saw the fidgitty stuff of a nervous guy.

Even so, Matt and Thea and I headed out, and I was back in town long before anyone shows up at the library to let me in. Good stuff. I did a couple of freelance projects at two sisters, then headed to work.

At the end of the day, I went to pick Liam up. Mo said he'd had a bit of a rollercoaster of a day - a few tears, but nothing too dramatic. I wasn't surprised, every new encounter seems to be that way for Liam. I'll bet by the end of the week he's in love with the whole scene.

So of course I asked him on the ride home how his day was. After we got through the nuts and bolts, he told me the following story.

"But one part of the day was NOT good. There was another boy named Liam, and he thought his name was my name, so he just pushed me out of the way and grabbed my name tag and flipped it around. The boy did not like me. He thought I was stupid. I could tell because of the way he closed his eyes and walked right past me and pushed me."

"Wow, did you tell anyone?"

"I did and Mrs. Dee said she saw the whole thing but she was just waiting to see what would happen," he said. "She and I went right down to the principal's office and called his mother and his mother came and got him and then he went to dinner and didn't have any supper."

"Hmm, Liam, is this a real story or something you imagined?"

"It was real ....." pause ...." well, maybe not. Maybe it was something I dreamed last night before I went to school."

Wheeewwwww.

And yet, I'm pretty sure there was something in there somewhere that was true, but possibly not at McNeil Canyon. There was another Liam at Kachemak Kids, one that our Liam said was never friendly to him. So maybe there was anxiety brewing about similar situations at this school. Who knows. But he sure had me going for a while there. Yikes!

Long and short of it, Liam knows 9 of the 18 kids in his class, and it sounds like they had a pretty good time, although I can only imagine how tricky it would be as a preschool teacher to have a whole group of kids who know each other and try to actually get a word in edgewise.

One day down, a zillion more to go. And tomorrow, Liam says, he wants to ride on the bus. Yikes!

Thea hasn't nursed in 3 days. I think we are in the home stretch. Bring on the Coffee Crisps.

Weaned

OK, perhaps I will regret this post later in the week, but tonight is official 48 hours since Thea has nursed, and tonight, I navigated the most difficult of all feats - I put her to bed without nursing her and without her flipping out. Very exciting.

And a little bittersweet.

When I nursed her two nights ago, I suspected it might be the last time. We were down to one nurse a day, and that was really just because of routine. So when I nursed her, I took my time, savored the moment. I'm glad I did. It's not like I can't offer her the same tenderness in other ways, but somehow, it is a major milestone for both of us. I do not plan to have any more children, so that is the end of a phase of my life.

Meanwhile - another phase is starting. Tomorrow, Liam heads to his first day of kindergarten. Matt got home just in time to witness the event after a month in Fairbanks. And it sounds like he will be leaving again just as soon, probably to Canada.
Liam is pretty ready, it would seem. His backpack is overflowing with gear. He has tissue and hand cleaner and a binder and a tape and all the good stuff a person could need on a first day.

I'm not sure who is more excited - him or me?

Victoria views

Ah, traveling with kids. There is nothing like it to make me want to clean manically. Which is what I just spent the past hour doing. And I almost feel better.

Thea and Liam and I are in Victoria, enjoying some nice days with the grandparents. Both children are reveling in warm weather (with matching skinned knees, no less), the parks, and two weeks of solid swimming.

I signed Liam up in swimming lessons days after we got here, and we've had one week of them and what a difference. Liam puts his whole face in the water now, and is floating around like nobody's business. While he takes his lessons, Thea and I splash around in the nearby pool. She's so hard to keep upright, it's like trying to hold a blob of jello afloat.

Otherwise, the kids have been having fun tormenting their grandparents. Liam and Charley have escaped the chaos on several occasions on the local bike trails, while Thea and I have gone on several jaunts into town. It's a little more challenging this year to get out because both kids don't fit very well in the stroller. But I make it work in a pinch.

Tomorrow, Anika and her crew get here, which will be a welcome respite from trying to entertain the kiddos - four kids should form somewhat of a pack, I would imagine. If I don't finish this post, it will never go up. It's late and the pauses between words are getting longer and longer.... zzzz.

a month

I know it's been a month since I did a post. Actually, over a month. And if you asked me to tell you what happened in the last month, I don't know that I could. But I'll do my best.

The most amazing thing that happened this year is that we had a summer. Days and days of sunshine and warmth. Some days were so hot, it almost took my breath away, especially when I got up on the hill, away from the daybreeze of Kachemak Bay. Many days, the house would be 78 degrees when I got home, and it felt like it was easily 85 outside. Simply put, in 15 years in Alaska, I have never, ever seen anything like it.

The kids spent most of their time outside. I worked on new gardens, and one weekend, when Matt happened to have a day off during the glorious stretch of beautifulness, we actually painted our 6-year-old addition. Awesome.

Liam has had a charmed summer. First, his best buddy Oskar came back from Oregon and spent the summer playing with him at Kachemak Kids, as well as many play dates. Fabulousness. And he has been loving soccer, and biking, and lots of outdoor fun with Kachemak Kids, which has specialized in field trips to the nearby museum, parks, and even to the library many times.

Liam has also had some big firsts this summer. He lost his first tooth a couple weeks ago, and was totally fine about it. The tooth fairy celebrated the big first with Star Wars guys. Huge. Tonight, he is on his first friend-not-family sleepover with Oskar. I was supposed to go to Anchorage this week, but a class I was going to take got postponed, so I didn't have to go. But the overnights had been planned, and by golly, they were going to happen. So this week, Liam will sleep away from home not once but twice.

Now here is an interesting thing. Thea came home today all by herself, and would you believe she was an angel? Had a snack, then played happily while I made dinner? What does that say? She is feeding off her brother's energy or the competition between the two of them? She needs some quiet time when she comes home? I don't give her enough attention generally and the only way she can catch my eye is to throw a fit? I don't know, but I was shocked by her demeanor. It was sooo calm.

Thea has been focused on perfecting her physical skills, which now include running hell-bent-for leather in the opposite direction of whatever way you want her to go and scaling anything that will get her closer to her object of greatest affection - Liam.

Though Matt has been working a lot this summer, he has managed to be home for some great moments - including a walk down Diamond Creek Trail that was so warm Liam took off all his clothes except his underwear. That just doesn't happen in Alaska.

So the sunshine finally did come to a close a couple weeks ago - although we have had brief moments since that were glorious. It has been a bit of a shock - we got spoiled. Morning after morning, I had coffee on the deck. Now it's back to low 60s and stormy, and racing to mow the lawn between rainy days.

But on Saturday, we head to Victoria for two weeks in a more southerly locale. It's predicted to be 80s all week there. Bring it on.

It's been so busy this summer - the list of things to do never seems to ebb. We bought a new car while Matt was working in Soldotna (read: lots of logistical challenges.) It's a 2006 Subaru Outback, and has lots of features I love, like heated seats and autostart (is there anything more beneficial in Alaska?) It has been a shock, though, to go from a high SUV to a low car, not to mention a standard to an automatic. But I'm adjusting. Had a funny moment the first day when I put my computer bag on the front seat and it started dinging at me. Didn't figure out till I made it into town that it thought my computer bag was a person without its seat belt on. Sigh. I'm not smart enough for these new-fangled inventions.

And yesterday, I had to move our current tenant out of our rental cabin since he was in Fairbanks fighting fire and wouldn't be back until after we left. But I finally found a tenant for the cabin, and so it was moving day. I managed by luck to get in touch with Matt via his satellite phone in the interior and got Josiah's number to make sure it was OK to move his stuff. Luckily, he was a very tidy guy. Then, the new tenant moved in, and I checked that off the list and went off to mow the lawn.

I'm going to try to get back into blogging more - it's tough to realize that we had a month of awesome memories, and all I can remember are little spurts. That's why I blog.