Logs, Bogs, and is that a hot tub?

Puka woke me up this morning right on time. He is like clockwork. Each morning, six o'clock, two rough paws hit my pillow. A second passes. Before I can open my eyes I have been greeted with urgent kisses asking me to rise up, run down stairs, and open the door to his backyard bathroom. This morning, this particular morning, I did not seem to mind so much. The coffee was ready. Our suitcases almost packed. A bit of housework here and there. Breakfast to make. Dishes to load and we were heading off for Galena. It all happened as planned with one "uh-oh I pooped" coming from the Moose, who had just been loaded into his car seat. Small, yet grandly stinky delay.
Chigger Yellum (Amharic for No Problem!).

The car ride was beautifully uneventful. Jason drove and on occasion asked me a question about my thoughts on politcal issues, ethenal, and curly fries. He bobbed his head to the radio and teased with his son who sat with books in the back seat. The Moose spent his time reading books and licking them....not sure why but it grew on us and we had to laugh. He cried once when after throwing a car at Daddy's head he got in trouble. His intent was fun, not harm. The little guy was an absolute pleasure for four hours in the car.
I went to India and en route to moving to Canada my ship sank. I became stranded in a lifeboat with a tiger, hyena, zebra, and orangetang. WHAT? Well, almost. I am reading, no devouring, this book called The Life of Pi. I read the entire trip.

Time passed, we pulled up into our resort. AAA people were smoozing around. Jason got a fancy T-shirt with his name on it, which he proudly tucked into his shorts.
We walked into our room and at the same time our mouths dropped open.
We have a corner suite. Huge bathroom with a hot tub. We have two walls of windows overlooking no buildings, just a lake and a bog and a deep dark forest.
We have wood burning fire place with logs galore sitting in a neat stack waiting to create warmth and light and romance. There is a darling sitting area, comfy couches, cute decor. A beautiful bed, which will have six feet in it tonight as we forgot the pack-n-play. Ooops..did I mention romance before, yea throw that out the window. Even still, it is goergous.

Moose is supposed to be taking his nap. The kid sleeps anywhere. He is NOT sleeping now. On our way in he saw the playground, the lake, and bikes. He is being quiet, following my directions, but I can sense his excitement.
I think I might just throw consistency out the window here (hey it can join romance) and skip the nap. We have exploring to do!

Jason is gone now working. AAA is actually doing a Galena wide scavengar hunt. Jason is on the same team as the President. I am rooting for them to win. Jason studies the Galena tourism guide, he knows his stuff.
I am going to change out of my "Hi I am Jason's wife" clothes and put on my "Katie get's to go play now" clothes. It is so much fun to see him so excited. He kept saying that he could not believe he was getting paid to come here and do all of this. We drove by so many beautiful rollings hills and valleys, farms, and sights that took our breath away. When I said that I wanted to go run through the hills Jason looked at me with that look that speaks he knows me better than that. "You mean you will start to run, realize it is making you short of breath, find a pretty spot to settle down into and ask me to hunt you down a cup of coffee?"....Yes. Yes. That is exactly what I meant.

I am off to find that spot now.

KLB

Many Hands Make for WHAT?

There is an old adage that says something like: Many hands make for light work.
The person that wrote this did not have a two year old. Amen.

Or, for that matter a puppy named Puka who eats everything in site. Just to give you the short list of things Puka-Dog has devoured (and I do not mean chewed, I mean digested) there is: shoes, bird feeder, newly planted landscaping, his leash, two citronella candles, a glass votive, a computer cord, my patience.
The list goes on.

When I am trying to get things accomplished and it is just not working out I step outside of my front door and take a walk. It sure does not scratch the adventure itch, but it does help me to remember to breathe.
We live one block away from cornfields. Beautiful green lush field. When Mommy needs a moment, we walk to the corn. Stare at it. Regain our composure. Return home.


We leave in the morning for Galena. I am truly excited. Galena is beautiful. While Jason is working (yep, this is a trailing spouse trip!) me and the Moose will be living it up Mommy style. We have a biking trip planned and a canoe trip planned. When Jason is not working we will be exploring the adorable shopping area and spending too much money on dark chocolate and unique cheese dip that we got suckered into buying from the sampling scheme~ sounds great!

Here are a few images of our SuBRABia of recent. Yard work. Walking. Life here.















Selam.

KLB

Katie Compost's

Well, it is not pretty~ but it works!
Here is my compost pile, dog proof and ready to add earth worms!
This is going to help us create excellent soil for our garden.
Now all the little pieces of vegetables that Jason individually forks out of his dinner will have a home.

You do not have to live in the country to compost!

My Little World Shook.

I have taken this post off now, as it is no longer helpful for me to have it on here. I had a great conversation with my friend Shorty who really helped me see this incident in a historical and cultural light~ he was in no way excusing it by the way.
It's over. The world is messed up, but Jesus is good. He is good. He is good.
He is good.
Thanks for all the comments and emails. I appreciate the support. :)

Canning Tomatoes!

Man oh man. I did it! I have officially canned my first food. As I mentioned earlier in the post on our darling organic farm here in town the Moose and I have spent the last few days preparing to can tomatoes for this winter~ we did it and it was actually rather fun.

Here is the How To:











1. Sanitize your jars, lids, and seals. The dishwasher works fine.
2. Cut off any bad parts on the tomatoes. You do NOT have to use perfect tomatoes, don't let those ones with bad spots go to waste!
3. Admire the colors and the cuties helping you. :)
4. Blanch the tomatoes by boiling them in water for about 30 seconds and then putting them in bowl of ice water. The skins will come right off!
4. Cut them up and cook them.
5. Put two tablespoons of lemon juice and a half teaspoon salt into your jars. This acts as a natural preservative.
6. Fill your jars with the tomatoes. Using a spoon get all the air bubbles out and fill the jars to the top.
7. Place seals and lids on jars and stick them in boiling water for 15 minutes.
8. Remove and let cool for 24 hours.
9. You will know they are sealed when you can not punch the top up and down. If it has popped and there is no seal you can use those tomatoes in the next few days.

Have fun! We sure did. Peaches are next.

Fresh from the farm.

What an incredible experience we had today. It was simple and so very refreshing, like lemonade on summer day. Rather than continue to purchase our produce at grocery stores it is my hope to begin a large garden this next planting season. We are building a compost pile which I will post about in a few days with progress pictures. The compost will help with creating nutrient rich soil for my garden. Unfortunately do to three transplants and a weed-waker accident my tomato plants did not make the move. I am preparing to can for the winter and and desperately wishing for my own home grown organic plants. Hoping for second best I searched the Internet and found several local organic farms that sell produce, packed the Moose in the car and proceeded to get lost.
Eventually we found our way to a small organic farm not even two miles from my home.
The Moose and I waited outside a pink house, with the lake in view, and waited for the owner to come outside. After a few minutes of admiring the world around us a sturdy eighty-nine year old farmer came outside to greet us. I came for tomatoes, we sat for conversation. He gestured for us to sit down on the porch swing and we did. Before talking the business of what we were buying we talked weather, children, and exchanged stories of our great-grandparents. He got up and I thought it was time to pick my tomatoes, but he insisted on going into the house to find a piece of candy for the Moose~ who was smitten with the farm, the farmer, and of course the candy.
Eventually, we moved to the tomatoes. He helped me to choose tomatoes that were perfect for canning in a quick and certain manner. I liked watching him choose the tomatoes and just imagined myself in the careless isle of a mega-store trying to get this history and knowledge from a paid employee.
We left the farm with a box full of tomatoes, a crate of blackberries, and two crates of canning supplies that he insisted I take home. "Waste not, Want not" he said.
To put the icing on the cake this farmer had a real fire truck on his property. He let out a hearty laugh as he watched the Moose climb all over it. From out of his pocket he pulled a camera and asked us to pose for a picture. He keeps an album of all of the families that he has sold produce to over the years. I am proud that we can be added to that album.
He told me to come back in a few days. He was going to go through his peaches and pull aside any that would be good for canning. When I mentioned that I did know how to can peaches he put his head down. "We will do it together, he chuckled."
After I put our crates of jars and produce into the car he picked up the Moose to hand him to me, "Yep, just about 45 pounds" he gauged.
As I pulled away I watched him in the mirror return to his chair and start fiddling with tools. I rolled our windows down and started to think about this little trip of ours. We came to get tomatoes and left with so much more, and I do not mean the jars. We saw where our food came from and spent time with the man who had nurtured them from seeds to fruit. All I could think to myself was that this is what it is all about and this, this knowledge and work ethic, this simplicity, this way of relating to one another, and this ability to grow something was what I wanted to pass onto my son.

Tomorrow the Moose and I will be canning our tomatoes. I was going to do it tonight but I really want him to see the process and learn that food does not just appear in front of us for consumption, but there is a legacy of labor and love connected to it.

I sit here munching on a bowl of fresh organic blackberries, warm and sweet and freshly picked.
It is not very often that a trip to the grocery store leaves me feeling this productive and fulfilled. I am really looking forward to next week when we drive down the road for a carton of peaches and wind up getting a whole lot more than we bargained for.

If you are interested in an organic farm in your area you can start a bit of research here: www.pickyourown.org

~ A blackberry finger stained Katie.

SuBRABia

I think I am a country girl. Wilderness girl. Live off the land kind of girl. Live in the freedom of wide open spaces kind of girl. Right now, I am living in suburbia. Or, as we Brabson's like to call it: Subrabia. It is our little piece of the world and we are making the best of it.
I took some picture today around my house of things that caught my attention. It is my little way of capturing the "beauty" of Subrabia.

The Moose Snoring

This is a my son after an adventurous day in Hawaii.

The Air Pump

This is how you entertain a two year old!

Rain Drops Falling on My Head....

Midwestern thunderstorms bring thunder, lightning, flash flooding, and often the warning of tornadoes. During the day when we have such a storm the Moose and I sit on the back porch and watch it downpour. I have fostered a love for rain in my son and he is as content as a pea in a pod to rock with me and watch a storm rage outside.

Last night as the Brabson family was eating dinner (oh, so yummy Fiesta Mac and Cheese) a storm came. Jason pointed out that there was no lighting, no thunder, just big rain drops. Within minutes the family was in gear and this is what followed:












When you happen to get caught in the rain, it is fun and exciting. Don't wait to get caught though! Take advantage of what nature throws your way. Go play in the rain!

Meal Planning

Need more time in your life for adventure?

I am adding a little side section to my blog here because I have noticed a trend that many Momma's face. Many of us get lost every week with one common question weighing down on us? That question is: What the heck is for dinner?
My pals Sarah and Alisha have convinced me to do some coupon clipping and use the Internet as a point of research for finding good deals. Gotta tell you, I am actually having fun saving money! The money I save I know then can be put towards our adoption of Baby "G" and towards more adventures.
I feel satisfied as a mom when I can sit down at a table with my family and eat a healthy good tasting meal made by my own hands. I feel satisfied as a mom when this meal was not thrown together in a frantic panic due to a lack of planning. I feel even better when this meal was inexpensive on top of it all.
The other day I went with a friend to the farmers market. She poked fun at me after I had told her all about my garden plans and said, "Boy you sure have a lot of energy."
What I have found is that when I got my household in order (Thanks, FLYLADY!) I had an abundance of time and freedom for the fun stuff. In a sense it is structure for the sake of spontaneity. It works!

So, here is my simple little plan. Once a week I will be posting our family meal plan for the week. I will go ahead and tell you now that I get all my coupon advise from Money Saving Mom and Sarah Anderson. I will post the weekly meal plan, recipes, and cost. If nothing else it will serve as a reminder for me of meals that work great so that I can fall back on them again. But, hopefully it will be helpful to some of you too.

This is me before meal planning. So stressed out I just laid on the floor and ordered pizza. (Yes, I do know this is a male monkey....)






This is me after meal planning. Relax. Satisfied. Ready for anything! (Actually this is me in Ethiopia enjoying a coke, but hey I meal planned there a lot~ beans, beans, and beans.)

A Capable Man

I have a little something to say tonight as I sit here on my couch, Scrubs on in the background. Yesterday while my husband was out of town and the Moose and I did our backyard camping trip we had flooding in our basement. This came as a complete surprise. I called Jason. He had me turning off water valves, providing me instructions for checking pipes, and even plunging the downstairs toilet. It was messy, stinky, and just all around icky. I followed all his instructions, but there was nothing else I could do. Jason called several times with great concern in his voice. He muttered off and on how much getting this fixed was going to cost and what a pain it was going to be to hire a plumber. Jason walked in this afternoon from his business trip. He greeted his family, ate dinner with us, and then headed to the basement. The man single handedly removed a wall, found the sewer pump and diagnosed the problem. In between a few trips reading articles on the internet and to Menards my husband fixed the problem. I checked on him occasionally during the six hour ordeal. He was covered in dirty water, sweat, and exhaustion. I am frequently taken aback at how absolutely capable my husband is. When I married him I knew he was a good man, but I had no idea how hardworking and resourceful he was. Here is the thing~ when there is a problem he finds a way and fixes it with his own hands. Five years ago when we were first married he did not even own tools and would never have called himself handy. Now, he has a list a mile long of projects he has undertaken and crisis he has solved.
This morning if we used water in our basement (bathroom/washing machine/sink) the basement started to flood. I am pleased to say that without hiring a plumber, saving our family a bunch of money, we now have a brand new sewer pump and no water in our basement...and the washing machine has been kicking away just fine.
Although I would not hug him tonight until he showered off I am mighty proud to be married to him. What a manly-man I have as a husband.
Thanks, Face, for being you. For taking care of us. For getting really dirty just so we have water and a clean basement. For doing all that you do, every day, so that we can be us. You make all my adventures possible and the journey I am on with you is one of the greatest adventures of my life.

And just to make one more little addition~ so much is picked up by children without us teaching it. When anything breaks in our house from a wheel falling off a toy car to Mommy dropping a plate our Moose says one thing: "Uh-Oh, Daddy Fix it." At age two he is confident that one man can solve the problem, his daddy. He is right.

Daddy-Fix It we love you and appreciate you. What a stud you are sewage covered and all!
Daddy Fix it with his little helper.

Moose and Mom Go Camping

Talking with Daddy on Skype.


What a day, a dirty day. I looked over my shoulder and saw behind me a child with mud caked on his face, rocks weighing down his pockets, and one bare foot sporting a band-aid. How could I resist giving that a hug! My little man smelled of campfire smoke and citronella. I gave him a squeeze, took a drink of sweet tea, and laid my head down in our small tent. I love camping.

My husband does not love camping. He tolerates it. There are moments of enjoyment for him, true. But, given the choice he would jump through a circle of fire in order to lodge at a hotel before he would camp. We have gone on several wonderful trips in which I begged to do a little camping. Colorado. Hawaii. Ireland. Romania. Mexico. Cape Cod. Each time I get the "we will see" response. "We will see" turns into a big fat "let's stay in a hotel and order breadsticks...." I have got to stop being such a sucker for breadsticks. (To my hubby's credit he has ventured with me on several wonderful and memorable camping trips, including a surprise trip in which I forgot to pack him shoes and pants. Oops).

Back to camping with the Moose. The hubby was away on business. Our plan was to go with him, but we opted to save the dog sitter for three upcoming trips in September. Thus, the Moose and I had one entire day and night to ourselves. I had many plans.... long overdue house cleaning...weeding...preparing for a garage sale... but rather than tackle that to-do list Moose and I pitched a tent in our backyard and we went camping.

Put simply~ it was a blast! We dressed in a our camp clothes, ran around the yard as if it was a vast wilderness, discovered bugs, and ate our meals under the open sky.
As the sun set we sat by our little fire and talked about missing Daddy, kissing boo-boo's and poop~ you know typical two year old talk. Our usual snuggle and reading was done in a cozy tent by flashlight.

We did go back inside for a bit in order to wish Daddy goodnight over Skype and tell him the adventures of our day. And, to watch first hand him spill cheese sauce all over the laptop. It was a perfect intermission to our camping adventure.

Camping with a toddler is a blast. Everything is a game of discovery for them. If you are considering going camping with your little one, but a bit apprehensive, I suggest taking a test ride in your own backyard.

We pitched our tent in the morning and spent all day playing in it. If you do not know how to pitch a tent, just go figure it out! The fire we built was small so that I could easily manage it and created from sticks found all around our yard. This was a good way to clean up our yard, entertain the Moose and save our winter fire wood stash. If you do not know how to build a fire, shame on you. Go learn! We prepared easy meals that were delicious. For lunch, just sandwiches picnic style. For dinner, cheesy broccoli and kielbasa sausage smoked to perfection.

This little camping "trip" went so well that I am pumped for a real trip...a few days together in some nearby wilderness. Let the planning begin! And, as a special treat for my hard working hubby I will make him some fresh breadsticks to go along with his smores.
Here are a few photos of our day/night.

Helping Mom put up the tent.


Nothing like playing in the dirt.


Loving the tent life!


Snuggles with Momma!


Starting the fire.

Goodmorning, thankgoodness for coffee!

Our Tent, home sweet home.


Nothing like eating dirty feet.

Me and the Moose relaxing in the morning, coffee, early morning fire, and the neighbors giving us some nice ambiance as they put on a new roof!

Dining Out

One of the challenges of being a stay at home Momma, for this wanderer, is that just about the time I am longing to find myself on an adventure to somewhere, anywhere, the washing machine dings it's familiar tune. The diapers are clean and ready to be dried. And, I better go and do this or else I will have the cutest brown butt running around uncovered all afternoon. This in and of itself is not a problem for me. We don't really mind naked in our house, but it does put a hamper on going out and about.
This challenge is why I blog most of the time~ to share with other adventure momma's (and remind myself!) ways in which to bring that which I love about travel into my hearth and home during those seasons of motherhood when there is a lot of laundry to be done.
Yesterday our family was given a friendly reminder of a fantastic way to bring a little adventure into a normal everyday happening. EAT BREAKFAST OUTSIDE! Hey, we all eat so the first requirement is met already. Here is the rest:

1. Keep a weather-eye on the horizon~
Especially if you are eating outside with the kiddos (or a picky hubby like my own sweetie) I suggest choosing a day when the weather is nice, this keeps down any possible complaining about heat. Really, it is not too fun eating outside if sweat is pouring into your coffee. Morning tends to be a wonderful time in the summer. We enjoyed our breakfast around 8:30 am which is not even considered early. The outdoors beckoned us and we answered!






2. Keep it simple~
Eating outside in many cases is going to be a last minute decision. If you put a whole bunch of pressure on yourself to make it a big hooraa then it may take much of the spontaneous enjoyment out of the whole experience. We actually eat the same thing outside that we would inside. On our first breakfast outside we actually just had cereal, sausage, and coffee like usual. If you have a carafe for your coffee go ahead and bring it to limit having to go back in the house, but otherwise the less you bring out the less you will have to haul back in.



3. Splurge on a picnic table~
I think that I would have had a much harder time convincing my hubby to eat breakfast outside if we were eating on a blanket. You know, cause of bugs and stuff!
We have a no frill picnic table that makes eating outdoors easy breezy. I have seen picnic tables on clearance all over the place now that summer is ending. If you can I suggest spending the $50 bucks. Who knows, maybe you will enjoy your outdoor breakfast time so much that you won't hop on over to the Denny's in order to feel like your getting out of the house. Just a hint, I have seen many picnic tables offered through our local freecycle group. There is no doubt a group in your neck of the woods.


4. That is it. Relax. Laugh with your kid(s)/hubby. Enjoy your coffee and sausage. Enjoy the fresh air. Begin your day with a little adventure without leaving your backyard. If needed light a few citronella torches, but morning keeps most annoying bugs away.




Although I did say that you have to keep it simple, there is one exception for us. In the fall, when I can light a early morning bonfire in the ole' fire pit, I am going to roast my own coffee beans and perculate the coffee outdoors. If you are an adventure momma I suggest taking some of your day to day routine (like making coffee) and doing it outdoors. Afterall adventure is not always about going somewhere new, rather finding ourselves doing the same thing we often do in a new way.

A Rusty Love Affiar: Me, Moose and the Jeep.

Well before my Mommy-hood years I stated that I would never roll in a mini-van. The truth is that if a terrific, wonderful, money saving deal came before us I probably would suck it up and drive the van. Despite many wise voices telling me that I would indeed get rid of my current ride and buy the mini-van I have held on. I drive a rusty, crickity, no bells and no frills Jeep. The airconditioner is not broken, there was not one to begin with. When it rains water comes in through the air vents as does snow in the winter. After a long rain when I first round a corner water comes downpouring onto my feet. As can be seen in an earlier blog, once I even had to wrap my body in a tarp (having given my winter coat to my cold son) just to make it home without frostbite. In fact, come to think of it there have been many incidents in the jeep that have left me kicking and screaming. Each time my husband says that we should sell the thing.....Nope...not just yet.
Why not just sell? My friend, Sarah, has a theory that I hold onto my jeep because it is a connection that I have to adventure on days when I am in knee deep in normalcy. Since driving the jeep makes going to Walgreens seem like a safari ride, I have to agree with her theory.

In order to keep the jeep and make it work with a kiddo I have created a Jeep Survival Kit. Seriously.

Summer Survival: Its hot!
1. Always have a water bottle in the glove compartment in addition to bringing both me and the Moose ice tea.
2. Keep a spare pair of sunglasses in the car for me and Moose.
3. Keep two hats in the car, one for my head and one for the Moose.
Items number 2 and 3 NEVER leave the Jeep. The rule is they must stay in the Jeep so that when needed they are always easy to find.
4. Keep a bottle of suncreen in the jeep and use it.
5. Take advantage of morning and evening errand runs.
6. Remember that sweating is allowed for girls and just deal with it.
7. Be prepared for rain by checking the weather channel. I also keep a NOAH weather radar system with me in the jeep to alert me of any thunderstorms coming our way. We keep our Jeep top off all summer so we do not want to get caught on the interstate drenched.
8. If you do get wet, learn to laugh about it. But, protect your kiddo. I keep a poncho and towel in the storage box just in case. Because of good planning the poncho has only had to be used once and this was to cover up the carseat while me and the Moose waited dry and happy inside of a little coffee shop.


Spring and Fall~ basically watch out for rain, but otherwise take a deep breath and really enjoy the ride! These two seasons are the best time to roll in a open top jeep. Take advantage of them!

Winter Survival: Winter is usually the only season that leaves me kicking and screaming at my jeep. It is also the season where I have been known to say that I would actually sell it. The top goes back on for the entire cold season and regardless of planning when there is snow my jeep is not a safe vehicle to drive in the winter ice/snow because of it's light weight. We do not take chances here and spend many unwanted days at home rather than risk an accident on the ice. Now, when the beautiful snow and ice are gone leaving only bitter cold behind we have managed to find a method of jeep survival that works.
1. Put the top back on and seal it up good.
2. ALWAYS keep a blanket in the jeep for each passenger. Usually it is just me and Moose so I keep two blankets. We have a thick, very warm blanket called "bear" that is just for the Moose. In the winter the only time this leaves the jeep is for an occasional washing. Why? The winter cold comes pouring into the cracks of my old jeep and it is imperitiave that I have a child with a cozy warm ride.
3. Pack a tarp and survival kit. In the winter I have a tupperwear that has a survival kit that we could live off of in case we were stranded somewhere. If you are only going to be driving in the city, this may not be as important. We drive all around and on a lot of roads that have forest or field. The truth is that every year people get caught in the snow, stuck in their cars and they have to survive for a couple of days until found. If this ever were to happen I want to be prepared. In my survival kit I have a neat little garage sale purchase to top off the safety~ a radio that I can use to call for help in case my cell phone is not working.
4. To make the drives tolerable go ahead and fill up that thermos of yours with some nice hot chocolate. I put warm milk in a insulated sippy cup for the Moose. He caught on last year to the fact that his was sans the sweet stuff so I had to start adding a bit of cocoa. He deserves it for tolerating the jeep all winter too.
5. Listen to your weather man or better yet your NOAH weather system. If the roads are unsafe stay put. (This should be the case whether you drive a lightweight rusty jeep or not).
6. Hang tight, don't sell just because it is miserable in winter. The good weather is coming soon!


After you learn to survive the seasons there is not much else to know. You do have to honor the "jeep wave" and give your fellow Jeep drivers a friendly how-do. During the top-off seasons, especially when you have a cutie-pie in the backseat you have to get used to people rolling down their windows to flirt with your adorable child at stoplights. This is usually not so back and my Moose eats it up. I keep a small bag of toys for the Moose attached to his car seat. He can get his toys out as he wishes and he has learned that we do not ever throw things out of the jeep. (If you want to know how we taught this rule effectively send me an email and I will let you know!). If you have to store anything in the jeep such as bags of groceries go ahead and plan on not buying a whole lot~ it won't fit easily. This can help you stick to that grocery budget. We have found nooks and crannies that the makers of Jeep probably did not even know a box of cheerios can fit just to make it home with all of our goods.

Each season I wonder if my son is miserable in the jeep. Is it unfair for me to keep this old rusty love affair of mine now that I am a mommy? But, I have to tell you that in each season when I look back at the face of my son I see a happy child. In winter he adores getting all bundled up. His little face peeks through his coverings (hat, gloves, coat, blanket, etc) and smiles at me.
In the summer time he proudly puts on his hat and sunglasses and waves cheerfully at passing trucks. He even reminds to put my hat on before we back out of our driveway.

I see mini-vans drive by us with kids in the backseat glued to a DVD player. I do not have a problem with this and I know why many parents do it. Perhaps some day I will cave in and that will be me as well. But for now, I am very happy to be teaching my son that we do not have to find a million ways to entertian ourselves during the ride for the ride itself is the entertainment.

Last night my husband, son and I drove the jeep as we went on our errands. It was a cool summer night. Earlier in the ride Moose actually requested we turn the radio on. Listening to a little Al Green and cruising down the road we heard a voice come from the back seat. I turned to see a head leaning back, gazing up at the night sky, "Momma", he said ecstaticly, "Wussie (Moose) see stars in sky!"

I looked at my husband. We were both smiling ear to ear at our son's enjoyment of the open top, the wind, the music, and the experience. My husband patted my leg and whispered, "Enjoy it now babe, winter is coming."

Dirty Money

My mom used to tell me that money was dirty. She did not say to this imply the corruption that can come from money, rather she meant it was truly dirty. "Think of all the places that money has been..." she used to say. I used to wonder where the money had been, hands that had touched it, things it bought, places it has traveled. Well, today I found that answer! As I was changing my two-year old son's diaper (and it was not a pleasant one) I found two shiny pennies. When our little guy does not have pockets he sticks pennies in his diaper. Now, the next time you handle some money you may wonder if that shiny penny was once at home in the comfortable crevice of my son's poopy diaper. So, go wash your hands!

The family is off to St.Louis tomorrow for a day of adventure. We are fitting the Zoo, a baseball game, and Dave and Busters into our day. When we are back I have a lot of blogging to do. In case anyone loves Dave and Busters as much as we do there is a ten dollar coupon on the net for a gamecard. Sweet!

We leave at six a.m. so I better get some rest now. The bookbag is packed with our criticals...diapers..wipes...oranges...toy car...water bottle...the Mai-Tai (absolute essential Adventure Mommy tool!)...and the camera.

Hope to report back a fun and lively day.

Have fun today. If you are a fellow stay at home Momma do something a little out of the ordinary to add some adventure to your life. Play in the rain. Cook a new ethnic food. Walk to the store. Kartwheel. Read about a dream trip to another country. Something.


Katie

Trailing Spouse

(Trailing behind Jason on a business trip usually means eating at a Fuddruckers).

Trailing Spouse. This phrase has a pretty negative connotation. When I googled the phrase articles popped up about how the trailing spouse is sacrificing their career (and perhaps happiness?) for their spouse. I think in most cases when people think of a trailing spouse they think of a husband/wife who was relocated overseas and thus the other spouse trails behind them. In order to be a "trailing spouse" there does not need to be a move made across the globe. As you can guess there are significantly more women who find themselves the trailing spouse while their husbands are paid more and promoted more often.
We had some friends over this week who poked a little honest fun at me for being one such trailing spouse. Before I googled the term I was actually a bit proud of this title and I am blogging now to defend and perhaps add another definition to that title.

I am a trailing spouse. Where my husband goes, I go. I mean this literally. My husband travels for his job. The trips are not grand in most instances, simply business trips to towns in his region. Most of the time the trips last one night, but have exceeded a month at one point. Next to his suits, luggage, and laptop you will find.......us, pack-n-play and all. Mommy and Moose travel with our business man husband/daddy. When he hits the road so do we. We trail behind him in order to not have to live without him. Our cherished family moments at home, like when we sing songs before bedtime and our son begs for just one more kiss, are moments that do not have to be missed.

Being a trailing spouse makes me happy and provides adventure, it thrills our son who gets to jump on hotel beds and to quote my husband directly, "brings the best part of home with me (him)..."

This month we, as a family, are traveling to Chicago for two nights while Jason has business meetings. Then, we are trailing behind Jason as he attends a conference in beautiful Galena, IL. After the two day conference is over our family is going to stay in Galena for a few extra days for fun. Why not~ we are already there and settled in!

There is a chance (75% chance, will know soon) that we will be trailing behind our business man hubby/dad on a trip to the Bahamas in early September. Sometimes it really pays to be a trailing spouse, huh?

Here is the thing. In order to be a trailing spouse like me I think that one must do some soul-searching and adhere to a set of guidelines to make it work.

*You must be independent, truly. On Jason's business trips we give him no expectations for entertaining us or providing for us. He gets up in the morning and we stay out of his way, mostly because we are still sleeping. He eats breakfast with his co-workers in the hotel resturants. He goes to his meetings. On his lunch break he calls and checks in with us. We catch him up on our day and tell him we are looking forward to seeing him later. He goes back to his meeting and when dinner time hits he usually is knocking on the hotel door.
While Jason is working the Moose and I are exploring. We get up, take care of our own breakfast, and then hit the town. We use the internet to find unique shopping, eateries, and parks. We have gone hiking, swimming, and hunted down the nearest Ikea.
If you are the kind of person that would just sit in the hotel room, bored out of your mind, rather than go alone into a new situation then I do not recommend this for you. Your boredom with create anxiety for your spouse, who remember is there to work. The Moose and I really enjoy this time together. It shakes up our routine and can be a lot of fun. Traditionally we scope out a restraunt that we do not have in our community and once Jason is back from his meetings we convince him (not hard!) to take us there. We spend our evenings at the hotel pool with Jason. He usually misses out on spending time at the bars with his co-workers, but in our absence he opts out of this activity anyway.
*During the days we keep a fairly low profile. We do not interrupt Jason. Even though his co-workers know we are there we do not make a big deal about it particularly during working hours. There is not a policy against family trailing along on business trips and we do not want one to be created! We do our thing, he works and then we come together when it is all over whenever that might be. We find it much better than spending nights apart.
The business world is played up as being really glamorous, but honestly it can be pretty darn lonely for all. We figure that when done right there is no reason that being good at your job means sacrificing family time. I think I will touch on this subject again. I will blog about:
Living from a suitcase (with a child)
Healthy and frugal eating on the road
Entertaining yourself (and a two year old) all day long in a hotel/new city
The logistics of how we go everywhere Jason goes without interrupting his work

I am proud to be a trailing spouse. On a recent business trip to Michigan, which lasted a full week, my husband would walk to the lobby each morning after we had said goodbye for the day. A few minutes would pass and there would be a knock on our hotel door. When I opened it a hot cup of coffee was waiting for me by the newspaper and I could often see my husband as he disappeared around the corner.
It is not such a sacrifice to be a trailing spouse when you are following someone who adores the fact that you are along for the ride.