Dear Blog, Please accept my apologies

I am so sorry Dear Blog, that I've kept you in the dark and feeling neglected. Hah, there are days I feel that way too!

It seems that after all the thought and deliberation and finally being able to tell people what was going on (I'm sure many of you can relate to the needed confidentiality of changing careers, etc...), life went into warp speed.  There was no slow build up.  There was a schedule to maintain, a final couple weeks for Bart, a 5 week period of him being home (ask me whether we're ready for him to retire yet!), the start of a new job and getting the house ready to put on the market.

So I thought I'd share a little of the fun and a little of the work.

First, I left off right before Spring Break.  We spent it in Hawaii so we could have some vacation time and some family time (with sis on Oahu).  Short story is that we spent 50% of our time on the Big Island (Hawaii) with either Bart or Rachel in the throes of food poisoning.  We did get to go on our snorkel trip (awesome!) and then spent a day at Hapuna State Beach boogie boarding.  Although Rachel only had energy to bounce up and down in waves as she was still in recovery.  As the wife and mother of sick individuals, I was as sleep deprived as they were - but with a great appetite!  It was great to finally go to the beach our last day.

See?  I'm smiling - I caught some really good 'waves.' 

 

Bart had to fly back to finish out his days at the Firm while the girls and I headed to my sister's on Oahu.  It was great to see Deb, Neti and the kids.  We took them to the beach, got to watch their baseball games and the 3 older ones in a Tahitian dance performance at the Shell Amphitheatre in Waikiki.

 

Here's a little on their dancing.  The boys (older 2) are training with fire now and treated us to a routine in the backyard - hose on hand for emergencies!  They are very proud of this and take it very seriously.  Here's JT - he's 9!

 

That night was also prep night for the following evenings dance performance.  Artificial flowers are not involved.  They all gather Ti leaves and flowers from nurseries and around the neighborhoods (watch out bougainvillea's!).  They strip and braid Ti leaves for the boys head and neck pieces and girls flowers are sewn on and weaved in and - it's a lot of work for a show!  I can strip and braid a ti leaf now......Deb is working on a braid:

Here is the gang.  It was great to spend some time with them and oh, the twins are getting so big.

 





We got back from HI and went straight into full rehearsal mode and performances for Kendra who did "Pirates of Penzance" with the local Children's theatre (Rachel had chorus concerts before Spring Break).  It's a great program and I'm glad she got the opportunity.  She has the blue sash in the middle:

 

In between performance weekends, Bart and I went house hunting in New York and New Jersey.  More on that later but we will probably, most likely, almost definitely be New Jersey residents.  There will be a limit on the number of 'New Jersey Housewife' jokes I will allow!

 

So while Bart had some time at home (he also took care of me for something and then went to spend time with his parents in Minnesota), we had to work on some areas of the house as we looked toward putting it on the market.  Our realtor (and friend) kindly suggested we pack up the books and move bookcases in the garage to "de-clutter" the house.  Let me just say that de-cluttering and keeping things de-cluttered is a full time job.  With time and a half.  Except no one is paying me for it.  Except it may sell the house so I guess I do get paid???

 

Anyway, we have this bookcase:

 

And this bookcase:

And contents from this bookcase:

In the garage.  Not to mention the other one from Kendra's room and the two that we donated to Goodwill and the 15 boxes of books that accompany them and probably have 5 more to fill.

And here are 4 of the 7 bags of books we gave away.  Plus 2 boxes I'm sending to my sister.  It would really be nice to have a library in the new house but I don't think it's in the cards.

Near the end of Bart's "un-employment" we took a little time to get out of the house and enjoy some spring weather.  This was taken on a hot! April day and we chose to go to Point Pinole (on the bay in Richmond) as it would be a little cooler.  Per a request, here are Eiger and I - you can see how big he is now.

He's a sweet boy.  He is currently at a kennel for some board and training while we are showing the house.  The trainer said it would be a good idea as he is a good dog but because of his markings he needs to be better than the next dog; "if your dog and a golden retriever get in a fight and the retriever started it - your dog will be seen as at fault because of his looks."  Doesn't matter that he's 3/4 lab, the markings subject him to doggy discrimination.  A shame as I think he's beautiful because of his markings!  Additionally, dogs tend to slobber and shed so him being gone right now really helps with keeping the house in the "near perfect" state required for selling a house.  But look at that face:

Lastly, these two:

These girls keep me busy.  Busier than I ever thought.   I love them and they are my joy.

That's a brief on what's been happening in the Olson world and while I know it's not much, it's all I have computer time for.  This has been the "least easy" of any of our moves for various reasons and thus many days seem like fire-fighting days.  I'm still learning the many lessons God has for me - I'm so thankful He's patient!!!

Start spreadin' the news, I'm leaving....

today....... Well, not today, but leaving "to be a part of it, New York, New York."

 

Starting May 1st the Hub will be working somewhere in that lower left quadrant of Manhattan.  Shocked?  

 

I am a bit (shocked) when I look at the pictures.  I haven't looked at them since I first downloaded them almost 18 months ago.  This next view is north an you can see Central Park peeking out at the top just right of the Hudson. 

 

This was our landing point when we came back from Zurich.  Via New York.  Living for 5 years overseas and then coming "home" via this vibrant city.  A city that my grandfather came through via Sicily in the 1920's.  My great grandfather through Ellis Island and then on to Chicago in 1917.  A city we've loved visiting.  Now a city that will be home to Bart's new job and I can visit via short train ride (from NY or NJ suburbs - we don't know yet).  Wow!  Was NOT Expecting That!  

 

 

I'm almost embarrassed to say I don't look at these pictures.  It was a tough leaving and Repatriation is just hard.  I love taking pictures to document life and yet, sometimes it takes me a while to look at them because of the emotion it invokes - in me - not necessarily everyone else.  I never blogged our actual return to the States - the pictures at Zurich Int'l with all our luggage or our fun days in NY before arriving in CA - so personal and it still seems like yesterday.  So I'm sharing a few as we are about to begin another chapter - again - of change in our lives.

 

This is what jet-lag looks like for the Olson's.  Rachel & I were almost out and Kendra is pretending as evidenced by her smile but, yeah, losing a night of sleep is losing a night of sleep. 

If we are leaving CA, at least we will be in a destination city.  So wonderful people such as these will want to see us.  The ballerina is drawn to this city and it will draw her family too. :)  And others!  It is hard to leave friends and family here in CA - it's hard to write this post. 

 

This too is my explanation for why the Blog has been quite silent for a while.  There has been a lot going on for the past 6 months.  Reflecting, talking, praying, discussions, researching - and keeping our family bound in a common goal - to love and support one another. 

Bart has had a great career in Public Accounting and we have loved being part of the "Firm" (yeah, has that John Grisham ring to it, doesn't it?) but a change has been needed.  It isn't a secret to most who know us that he's looked to go private in the past - the job offers/opportunities have always been East.  So we are going East - God works His way, not ours.

We are excited.  A little nervous.  A bit sad.  But moving forward with confidence that God is giving us a good thing.

Note to self:  Wear heels the next time R and R are standing next to self in picture. And, Kendra is now 1 inch shorter than self - she sprouted since we moved back 1.5 yrs ago!

Her homework, my homework, we all have....

Homework!

Rachel has mucho English homework.  She said the questions were boring her to tears.  But, wait!  "You are reading "to Kill a Mockingbird."  How can that be boring?" I ask.

So I grabbed my copy of the book and we started on the questions together.  We find that when I read passages out loud and discuss the questions and their meaning, she has a better understanding. I find myself leading her in the right direction because these questions are pretty probing. She's having to learn to probe into literature and think in a clear, concise fashion. This isn't easy. What probably makes it more difficult? The generation reading this book in 9th grade today is farther removed from the truths expressed within and which hit hard the generation of which it was published.

I have to work hard at not doing the homework - just discussing the questions and helping formulate ideas and then telling her "I can't write the sentence for you, talk it out and then write it down."  We don't do this for all homework - just the occasional assignments.  But this is one I really like so I find it fun to explore together.

I'm a huge proponent of "it's your homework, you do it.  If you are having trouble with things, the teacher needs to be aware of it." 

This view is especially important with Math homework in our house.  Yes, you have two parents who are CPA's but please don't come to me with any more math work - it will take me an hour to relearn what I've forgotten over the past 30 years and oh, wow, they sure teach it differently now.  "I used to do it this way."  Which is no help to your child who is already frustrated with the assignment.

But the English questions?  I told her last night we should have done more analyzing of the books we read as a family at night.  On reflection, we did do quite a bit as I always stopped to make sure they understood concepts, vocabulary, moral dilemmas, etc.... We just weren't up to the level of digging required for her "Mockingbird" reading in elementary school. 

So I'm prepared to enjoy this particular homework journey with her.  I do like reading.  Just a little.  Which I once spoke of http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=27841282#editor/target=post;postID=4223352394207311657;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=191;src=postname">here Please ignore my lack of skillz with html commands and links - Blogger and I have been at war with one another for a while.

On the piste again!

Hello! I'm back so soon! Miracles do happen.

Last weekend my two favorite girlies and I headed up to Sonora in the Sierra's to ski at Dodge Ridge.  Dodge Ridge isn't as trafficked as the Lake Tahoe area - Sonora is a smaller destination area (old gold mining days), the resort area is about 30minutes up the mountain from there and just past the turn-off for Pinecrest/Dodge Ridge, east of Strawberry, is the winter road closure gate for the Sonora Pass.  Soooo - less traffic.  It's also closer to us in the Bay Area and I was pleasantly surprised to see how they've expanded the runs and added more lifts since I had been up as a young lady  26/27 a few years ago.

We were so happy to be there! The girls have been missing the snow and we didn't get any skiing in last year as CA didn't have much snow at all until late February and by then our schedule was veering in another direction. It does take at least 2.5 - 3 hrs to get to a ski destination from our house so it's not as convenient as it was in Switzerland. Yes, we were very spoiled there.

Here they are the first morning up.

We did have a few equipment issues.  Last year we bought everything at the Ski & Swap meet for wonderful, low, low prices.  Then there was the problem of no snow.  Then certain people grew.  So Kendra was in her own boots but we had to rent skiis and poles and then Rachel could not feel her feet so we had to rent boots which then had to be set for her skiis.  A bit of an ordeal for mom at times but we made it all work.  

 

The clouds kept hugging the mountains that day.  I made an adventure out of it as much of the time I didn't know where I was going.  The runs however are very easy to follow and as I reminded the girls - every run will dead end into either a chairlift or the route back to the main lodge. 

 

OK Swiss folks - note the chair lift.  What's missing?

 

Remember - this is the girls first time skiing in the US.  We got on the first chair of the morning ( a triple) and Kendra looked and said "where's the bar? there's nothing to keep us from falling out!"

 

US skiing folks - In Switzerland, there is a front bar/foot rest that you pull down after getting on the chair lift.  It's great as you can rest your feet on it instead of your boots/skiis pulling your lower leg out of it's knee socket (those of us with cranky knees really appreciate this feature) and it gives added comfort to the fact that when you are riding 50ft off the ground over rocky terrain that you won't slip off easily to your doom.

 

The girls spent the weekend holding on to either the center or back bar of their chair. 

 

 Another difference was the lift tickets.  Switzerland uses a barcoded tag or scanned card method for entry at turnstiles for the chair lifts and gondolas.  Dodge Ridge still uses the 'old' lift ticket method so I showed them how to fix those onto their ski pants.  I told them the pants are best as in the event you want to ditch your heavy jacket, you still have your lift ticket on you - we tend to keep our pants on.......

 

 It cracks me up to watch them ski.  Look at that identical form.  They are very much in control and I admit I question the form of their skiing sometimes except they both do the same things that make me curious and I realize they've both been through the same system in Swiss Ski School.  It comes down to different techniques and I really shouldn't question it because we passed up the family who's kids were stuck on a black diamond run and my girls just kept plugging along and were ready to go back for more.

 

Not to say we are great skiers but we can get down a mountain without worry of breaking our necks.

 

The cool thing for Mom?  My knee can't ski as long as it used to and I make it a goal to always stop before it feels exhausted - it may not on the slope but it sure will by evening.  So - I can now send the girls off to make some more runs, I head to the car to dump my equipment, change shoes and grab their shoes/equipment bag and then - we meet at the lodge when they're done, they can dis-assemble and off we head back to the hotel or for home. 

 

We had a great time and I'm so very, very lucky to have girls who enjoy each others company.  Seriously - I'm realizing what a tremendous blessing that is in today's world.  There may be bumps to come as they continue to grow but I thank God for this good season.

 

 

Curve balls from God

This will be a short post.  I have another post coming on a topic of complete physical and frivolous nature - skiing! Love it!

In the meantime, many things in recent days (hmmm, months perhaps!) remind me that we aren't meant to get too comfortable.  There is much movement in our small world.  And while we are so very concerned with what is affecting us in the here and now, the bigger picture is seen by an almighty and all-powerful God.

Question I leave you with this evening ( I am supposed to be in bed but B is out of town so.....):

Do we really trust Him to be Almighty and All-powerful?

'Cause He is.  And we need to let Him be.

I'm not very good at it.  I desire to be.   But pray for all those making hard decisions and those being compassionate and those waiting for the waiting to be complete.

Good Night with love to all.