Keep on Trucking

Patrick was not happy to see the "momo home" drive away, especially not after he saw the red pimped out golf cart that had been hiding in the trailer the whole visit. Even with severe seasonal allergies, the grandparents really stepped it up this visit and wore the kids out like you wouldn't believe. Of course holding down the fort for a few days while we took Emily to San Antonio was most impressive (and appreciated). Anna said she had the best weekend ever because Grandma taught her some computer games and let her watch all the shows she wanted. This is exactly the kind of one on one attention that middle child needed. Megan was off to some overnight Brownie field trip so they played man-to-man defense most of the weekend at least.

The RV continued on the journey from Port Aransas to Michigan with another stop to see more grandchildren in South Bend. I'm sure they are itching to get home and get started on their huge list of chores to get the lake houses ready for summer. One of these years we may even make it to visit them, but the logistics are overwhelming at this stage. We will see how the drive to Colorado goes this summer and then determine if we can double that to go to Michigan. It is going to require a lot of candy and movies. And that's just for the person riding shotgun.... who knows what the kids will be doing!

The Opposite of Us

This whole month has been crazy busy, when it rains, it pours (and is VERY windy). So of course the one night that my good friend Angela from Indy days is driving through on her move from Florida to Denver is the night before we leave for our San Antonio trip and my parents are here too. Sean had a shift to work that night, the girls got home rather late after a minor bus accident, the whole night was nuts. But, we pulled it together and thanks to my Mom the chef and my Dad the grill man, we even had a real meal.

Anyway, Angela and Joe tell very entertaining stories from a life that is the opposite of ours. They travel a lot, have many great adventures, no kids, and are working on a plan that involves a boat in Florida and a boat in Seattle and an RV to get them back and forth. Did I mention that they fit all their worldly possessions in a mid-size SUV? They have a darling dog that Anna and Patrick were nuts over and Megan was frightened of. She barely fit in the vehicle thanks to someone's tiki mug collection. I got the vibe that two thirds of the occupants in there voted against it but alas, it has found a new home in Denver. We can't wait to go visit and explore the area and I suspect we will have more stuff in our van for a weekend trip than they had to move across the country!

Don't worry, no dogs were harmed in the making of this blog post. They were merely teasing with that brownie. I can only imagine what damage a sick dog could do to a tiki mug collection...

Small Town Perks

I love living in a town where the country club is not the slightest bit exclusive (these days they seem almost desperate in their pleas for new members) and the initiation fee or stock buy in was only $700 when we joined. Worth every penny to swim in a pool that isn't very crowded which is key when you are trying to watch multiple children. Also, they bring food to me, it's like I'm a kid again and don't have to cook and clean up after every meal! Now would I join a club in a big city where the buy in is FORTY THOUSAND DOLLARS? Umm, probably not. Add a few months of dues to that figure and I'd be better off hiring a personal chef and putting in a pool.

When we 1% considered moving to NC so Sean could work with one of his good friends, I looked into some houses there and to even make an offer in some neighborhoods you had to be approved by some board at the club there. The buy in's were more like $50k and I can guess what kind of egos golfed there. I don't think they would look kindly on our aging mini-van that just won't die or get stolen (not even if I leave the keys on the seat). I think the smell of sour milk keeps the thieves away.... but it will get us to the pool this summer and I won't care what the kids spill in it. So nice living someplace where everyone is down to Earth and the kids don't even know that designer jeans come in their sizes!

No Fear

Patrick managed to find the right words for me to understand what he wanted today. First he wanted me to strap him in my suitcase, which the girls do for him usually (this is as common post-vacation game). Then he wanted me to zip it up, all the way. Took a lot of demanding before I believed that was what he wanted. Then he wanted me to spin him around. I had to draw the line there as I think that is something that would come out in therapy sessions as an adult but it would be remembered as punishment. Yes, he is perfectly content sitting in a dark suitcase, I had to bribe him to come out. I do not understand.

Food Vacations: Tips for Success

I know what you are all thinking: "Julie, how do we eat at the maximum number of restaurant in only 48 hours?" Friends, let me show you the way.

First of all, if you are going to have to burn a meal at someone's house, do your research to find out what they are having. Sean had a meeting one afternoon with a dinner afterwards and we heard they were getting a Mexican place to cater it. Hmm, that's a risk right there. Everyone in San Antonio has their favorite Mexican place and as much as I try to respect their opinions, it doesn't stop me from commenting to Sean every time we drive by one that isn't our favorite. I look at the full parking lot and just marvel that they must not have tried Pappasitos before, otherwise they would be there instead. I could have eaten every meal there this weekend but Sean has a limit to Mexican food and I was aiming for diversity on this trip.

Anyway, I figured that even if the stars aligned and Pappasitos was catering, I could scarf it down 2 meals in a row. I bet on that not happening and hedged with getting my favorite new dessert a couple hours before the party. How much can you eat when trying to talk to people and juggle a baby anyway? Yes, people, you need to focus, keep your eye on the prize here, and remember to never waste an opportunity for a snack. Oh, I even took a photo of this dessert, no doubt further puzzling the waiter.... because who not only shops alone but eats alone too? I suppose I looked a little pathetic to outsiders, no friends to enjoy the day with, but I couldn't have been happier. I have the receipts to prove it, but don't try looking for them because I already destroyed them before Sean could see them. Ha ha, just kidding, honey. Oh, but you may need to work an extra shift this week... or two?

My other tip is to hit a bakery for breakfast to double up on dessert opportunities. As I mentioned in my other post, skip the donuts and cinnamon rolls unless you are certain that they are worth it, otherwise just go for the good stuff. It's all sugar and butter anyway. Of course desserts are going to leave you starving in 2 hours after your sugar high (then sugar crash), so a perfect prelude to the early lunch which leaves room for afternoon snack and late dinner. For lunch and dinner I do recommend getting an appetizer and salad (if it is a good one, why bother with a generic one?), instead of just a big entree. You can never finish it all which is fine when you can take leftovers home, but when you're on vacation and it is too good to waste you end up snorking it down and feeling too full to enjoy your next meal. Pace yourself.

Now, you may be wondering if this plan keeps you from gaining too much weight while on vacation. Umm, no. Who are we kidding here, it's a food weekend, not Fat Camp. If you want to lose weight you go to one of those fancy spas where they feed you raw veggies in different shapes all weekend in between mud baths and contortionist yoga class. But don't worry, all that weight you gained will come off when you spend upteen hours doing laundry, cleaning, and running errands when you get back. Also, your regular hometown restaurants will not appeal to you for a long time so that will help too.

Here is the 411 for all my friends who used to live in SA too:
Canyon Cafe for early lunch. I know, it's a dark horse, really more of a nostalgia stop for us as it was one of the first places we went when house hunting 8 years ago (very much like this trip because Megan was the same age as Emily then, it was rather deja vu feeling). Then we did Bravo for dinner. Yes, it's a chain but Sean's favorite Italian and I can always find something-- like my favorite new dessert. Yes, I had it twice. We had a late start on Saturday (I blame the rookie, Sean) so skipped breakfast and instead saved up for a huge lunch at Pappasitos (it was #1 priority). Then I had Bravo dessert, then blah Mexican catered meal, then left a few minutes too late to get to EZ's for late night snack. Do not repeat our mistake... it closes at 10pm FYI. Then Central Market for breakfast tacos, the dessert case, and lunch to go. Best time to go is Sunday morning, nice and quiet, not much traffic. Made me want to move back. And now back to reality with baked goods scattered all over my kitchen... easing back into normal life. I hope to ease into my new jeans if they still fit...

Familiar Faces

Sean works with a few friends from residency so they were at the meeting too. He has seen them in Vegas and other meetings numerous times but I haven't seen them in 4 years so it was great to catch up with them. After a couple days of not recognizing anyone I was ready for a familiar face too. When we first moved to Kansas I never really looked at the people around me when out in public since I was used to the anonymity of the big city. After a few months of running into people I knew everywhere I went (as they would wave directly in my face to wake me up), I got used to always looking around for friends. I found myself doing that this weekend too.... chances of knowing the people in the car next to me, zero, but I still kept expecting to recognize someone. I think I am better suited for a small town now... people also drive nicer here too as they don't want to cut someone off and then realize it is someone they know- like their kid's teacher...

Definitely Not in Kansas

It had been almost four years since I'd been to San Antonio and it was amazing what I had forgotten/blocked from memory. Of course the weather is the sort that tricks you into moving back, couldn't have been nicer. I don't think I could ever forget the heat of summer there though, or worse, the heat of fall. I do not miss the traffic in the slightest so we barely drove around. We were sitting at our favorite restaurant, wondering why in the world we didn't eat there more often when we lived there and then we remembered the half hour drive in crazy traffic to get over there. With whiny kids and the heat, it was a challenge. We also had no money then. A good thing though, we would have gained so much weight... mmm, bacon wrapped shrimp that you dip in butter sauce...

We did check out the old neighborhood which is a little worse for the wear due to the drought last summer, but it was better than we expected. I guess my yard here isn't as small as I thought... good to keep it in perspective. Of course going to Sean's co-worker's house for the meeting was eye opening (had to zillow that when we got home-- same price as ours here!!). You can get a bit more house there to say the least, I'm feeling claustrophobic sitting in my kitchen right now thinking about it. Of course you need that big house in Texas as you will be spending the 6 hottest months of the year laying on the tile floor watching TV with the blinds drawn, and if your house is too small, then you start voting family members out. What passes for a huge house here is just a regular house there and looks rather shabby compared to the homes (castles) that the Spurs live in. I was going to try and bluff my way into the nicest gated community but I didn't think my Malibu rental car was going to help me out there.

Also not helping was my "rural dork" clothing style... I felt a little bit like Pretty Woman when I started shopping. The salesgirl was rather supportive when I asked her to cut the tags off so I could wear a new outfit out of the store. The shoe guy wouldn't let me take my new shoes off after I decided to buy them and stopped short of asking me if he could burn my old ones. Such tact. I didn't plan on replacing my purse but it looked so sad next to my new clothes that I had no choice. I am afraid to look in my closet... may as well just bag it all up and donate it before I hang up my new clothes. Now I understand why the Mexican Nationals would buy so much when they came to San Antonio... probably the only time they got to shop too. I felt like I had to keep telling the salespeople that I don't usually buy so much at once (or ever before in my life for that matter). I may regret this after small children's hands and faces wipe on my nice new clothes...

Training for future trips

In case you wondered how our kids got so awesome at kicking the seats in front of them.... Once they are two it seems that no amount of arm strength can keep them from doing that and you battle the entire flight. We always joke about dropping the kids in a row by themselves and heading to other seats since we are usually split into 2 groups and Sean's boss told him that someone actually did that to him on his flight. So he sat with a 3 year old and a 5 year old who proceeded to kick the seats in front of them and then colored all over. The mom was so grateful for the break that he felt bad for her so he lied and said they were great. I think I can act like that grateful mom and try that next time we take all the kids. It was WAY easier just taking Emily with us, really felt like a real vacation. She was the perfect shopping assistant and encouraged me to eat lots of desserts. She did not enjoy the hotel as much and nor did the people in the room next to us I fear. Oh the teething...

Vacation Breakfast

This about sums up our food tour... Central Market on Sunday morning, dessert case for breakfast. I mean really, how is any of this different than a donut? The hip, urban (code for gay) men next to us were commenting that their cinnamon rolls were not as good as they looked. Yes, that is why I just went with the creme brulee, eclair, carrot cupcake, caramel brownie and bread pudding instead. For the plane I bought a reusable grocery bag and filled it. Had to check our regular carry on bag and it was well worth the $25 fee. Fresh tortillas, cranberry, apricot and walnut bread, macaroons, orange cranberry mini scones, citrus shortbread, chocolate chocolate cookies... it's what's for dinner. The kids already ate one bag of tortillas and I am diligently working my way through the baked goods.

Excuse the poor photos from the trip. I took the old camera that the kids smudged the lens on, so everything is blurry.

Leaving, on a jet plane

Wow, it has been over a year since I've flown I think. Let's not add up all the trips Sean has taken in the meantime (okay, at least 5- Vegas, Pebble Beach, ND, Denver, Vegas- did I miss any? Never mind, I don't want to know). Headed to Sean's annual meeting for his moonlighting group, first time I have made it. I am the elusive Mrs. Keenan. I'm sure my existence would be questioned except I keep having babies (i.e. tax deductions). He has attained rock star status there as he is so efficient that everyone loves working with him (I think he gives some of them enough time to watch TV while they work...). So I look forward to meeting everyone and putting faces with names.

I will also be shopping like a drug dealer thanks to Vegas cash. You know it's time to shop when a father-in-law comments that his son needs to buy his wife new clothing. Thank you COL (R) Obvious. Not a lot of variety in my closet these days. Wish me luck! (Also luck to my parents who will be watching the 3 older kids! Many thanks!)

The Irish Goodbye

Donna, one of my ND roommates, just showed up in my (more important than CNN) newsfeed as "likes the Irish goodbye". I thought this might be a band or something so I checked it out. The info line is: Because everyone knows that bailing without saying bye is the way to do it. And then there is a photo of some guy sneaking out of a party.

I think my Dad needs to join Facebook just so he can like this item as it is his specialty. He just got in trouble from some Texas friends for firing up the motorhome and blazing out of there without saying goodbye to anyone. Even better, when he retired he didn't tell anyone he was going to, he just turned in his letter on the last day of school and left before anyone could read it. So it's not just that Irish skin he has, or that Irish love of beer, it's also his goodbye method. It is easier... and at some parties that will get you out of helping to clean up!

Sunday Funday

It was a bit strange having so much free time on Sunday since First Communion was on Saturday evening and thus we didn't spend half of Sunday in a blur of getting children dressed and to church on time. Instead the guys managed to find a golf tournament to play in (what luck!) and the gals took the kids to the park and then to lunch at the golf course. We thought we'd make a game out of trying to find Daddy on the course. Do you think we could find him? Lucky for us they swung through between holes. Or at least they said they had more holes to play.... after seeing the chaos that was our table, they scurried off. The big excitement was that Sean's Dad almost had a hole in one. Of course Patrick thought that the hot dog was the most exciting part.

The Little Bride

The day after First Communion Megan was having the post-wedding depression. There was talk of how she would never get to wear that dress again, her big day was all over, etc. Not even a fun honeymoon to look forward to, poor thing. It was such a big deal that all the grandparents were here, and very helpful I might add. Teething Emily requires non-stop holding and walking. We even made it through the whole mass and reception without her realizing that I couldn't nurse her in a dress without offending many, many people. She was furious that I made her wait until we got home to feed her but luckily she has plenty of reserve on those darling thunder thighs.

Kicking off 1st Communion Weekend

This about sums up the evening. Judging by how much coffee they preloaded in the coffee maker, they will be going strong tomorrow too. I would suspect they were twins separated at birth except the July 5th they were born on was a year apart. The older one showed the younger one where Willie's bar is during what turned out to be a very long "run to Target". At least we have enough adults in the house now to keep Emily properly walked. She is really not enjoying teething and I suspect tomorrow someone will use it as an excuse to go buy her some whiskey for her gums (pick up some more Keenan wine too). I am a little concerned about wrangling this crew into clean clothes in time for 5pm mass.

SIGH of Tax Relief

Bad news: state tax lady cannot get Sean out of his military obligation.
Good news: our accountant just filed with the wrong form. Pressure is off Sean to win big in Vegas now.

So glad because I do not have the energy or arm strength to take a baby and 2 year old into the liquor store to buy wine. Now I can just do laundry all day instead, wheee!

To Do List for Tomorrow

1. Hide all holiday themed socks from the girls.
2. Hide winter dresses.
3. Throw out torn, beat up shoes.
4. Throw out popsicles that stain their faces for 48 hours.
5. Brush their hair, maybe even get it cut.
6. If successful with all of the above, let the kids eat in public, not in the van after going through yet another drive-thru.
7. Call state tax people and very nicely tell them that if they can get Sean out of army then we will become state residents and joyfully, gratefully, eagerly pay state income taxes. Let's see what sort of power they have and how badly they want the money they sent us a letter requesting.
8. Buy bottle(s) of wine to help me stop thinking about that letter.
9. Try to put children to bed early enough to drink that wine.
10. Give up and just go to bed when the kids do...

Facebook Men

I am beginning to suspect that I am not the only one who has set up her husband's facebook profile. I know one other friend has done so, and while he resisted the idea, it only took him 24 hours to ask for the password. Can't believe she gave it to him, oh the fun she could have had, making him join all sorts of crazy groups and hey, what about Farmville?! I have no idea what that is but I did learn to block it from my newsfeed. Some of Sean's friends from high school and college finally asked me to be their friends too after they realized that Sean never updates any of his stuff. Nope, no references to Emily anywhere on his page. Eh, whatever, people know he has kids, what's another one?

I do have some guy friends from high school and college who post hilarious status updates quite frequently, so I guess some men are into it. Once football season starts I bet there will be more chatter from the otherwise quiet husbands. Let's just hope they don't start some online game like Farmville that involves football predictions... otherwise I will have to block that game too. In the meantime, I am going to try to figure out Sean's password and put some new pictures on and a status update about how he has the most awesome wife ever. Enjoy your week in Vegas, honey! The chaos isn't so bad when it's only a week, not 6 months...

Now where were we?

I have spent the past 2 days trying to remember what we were doing and planning before news of the deployment hit us. Now that normal life is back on, Sean wasted no time getting his conference to Vegas back in order, leaving tomorrow while this sucker is off at church with the drooler, Mr. "I do, I do", and the pouter. Megan will be meeting us there with her sleepover friend. This is sounding uglier by the minute.

I really didn't plan for this upcoming week, having skipped ahead to planning for next weekend, the big 1st Communion for Megan. This will be the 4th time we've been together with our parents (although they did get together without us last year). So 1st Communion ranks up there with college graduation, our wedding, and med school graduation. Anna already asked if they will all come for her 1st Communion. Mark your calendars! I was planning to cook for real next weekend and thought I'd make sure the stove still worked last night when I made a rare real meal (which the kids ate very little of). I then did dishes for about 18 hours. At one point I think I saw a neighbor sneaking in and dropping off her dishes. I think it will be easier next weekend when we can assign each child a grandparent so I can get stuff done. I am rather good at doing many things with one arm while carrying Emily around non-stop but it gets tricky when I need to cut stuff up.

While Sean is suffering through the conference (so hard to concentrate when he knows that there is poker being played nearby without him), I will use all my "free time" to figure out how we are going to crash his golf trip this year. It used to be we didn't take real vacations because we had no money. I never dreamed the day would come when we wouldn't take real vacations because I was too tired to plan one...

Can't beat the garbage truck

Gotta love when Patrick kicks off the red high heels the second he hears the garbage truck coming done the street. Needs all his speed to make it to the window in time for maximum viewing. Even more impressive is that I don't know how he heard it over all his own yelling and noise making. Exciting times here...

Pardon from the Governor

Yes, the deployment is off!! Sean just got the good news today, after a week of getting everything in order to go, including his anthrax shot which he assured me does feel like a sucker punch to the arm like the nurse warned him it would. I found out the news when I walked in tonight and saw the photo of this flashy car that I had told him he could have gotten if not for the deployment interrupting his moonlighting. I'm beginning to suspect that this was just a ploy to trick me into letting him get it (which totally does not fit his personality, sorry Mr. "won't wear a shirt that isn't a neutral color for fear of standing out"). I predict he will also use this scare to remind me that no matter how much he golfs, it is still better than him being gone for 6 months straight.

It is quite possible that he will go at a later date but will at least go as a radiologist then and not as something he isn't trained in, like running a sick-call clinic. Not sure of how it all shook down but we think the fact that his department will be going through a big transition this summer played into it. So he has a lot of work ahead of him here but at least he will be coming home each night. I am so glad we never told the kids he was preparing to go, the drama would have been big and loud. Bad enough he is still going to San Antonio next week for the training he will need someday if he does deploy. The girls are definitely daddy's girls...

The Adoring Brother

He really is so sweet to her. At least for now... let's see what happens when she wants to ride blue motorcycle.

Patrick's Latest

During Easter mass, where it was quite toasty for those not wearing sleeveless dresses, Patrick turned to Sean and raised his eyebrows innocently and asked in his high little 2 year old voice, "I take clothes off?" as he started unbuttoning his shirt. Yes, there is too much nakedness for him these days, hard to keep his clothes on him but we did. He did manage a reprieve from the heat by starting a world class meltdown when he missed his chance to put the envelope in the collection basket. Sean just had to remove him at that point which rarely happens (thankfully) and they spent the rest of the time enjoying the cool vestibule.

Patrick has also started sleeping with his light on very dim, a response to his fear of the boom boom. So then when he wakes up periodically during the night he gets confused and thinks it is time to get up and will start yelling for me to release him from bedroom prison. If Sean is working I will let him out to sleep in our bed but this morning at 6am I convinced him to stay in there where he played for a while, stripped down, and then fell back asleep. At 9am I finally opened his door to check on him and he popped his eyes open, merely said, "hi", and then bounced out of there. Go time. He suggested loudly that he needed his daily purple popsicle for breakfast so I gave in to avoid further loud suggesting, but I let him make the decision about whether it was appropriate to eat it outside on the porch in his diaper. A 30 degree drop in temps changed his mind there. This is a photo from a few days ago when it was in the 80s and orange was an acceptable popsicle color.

Now we are at the Goldfish eating portion of our day, watching the men "build house". They must be on Extreme Home Makeover because they have been working non-stop, even on the beautiful Easter afternoon. Ah, nothing like the sound of a generator, lots of hammering, and some yelling in Spanish to celebrate Easter. Poor guys, I bet one of them is even named Jesus and he was still out there working...

Easter Naps

Even Grover hits the wall after a sugar crash.

Hunt is ON

Anna was afraid her new shoes would slow her down... apparently not.

Easter 2010

The usual Easter... matching dresses for the girls (per their request), hidden baskets, and the joy of money.

Easter Prep

I-Pads are all wrapped up for the girls to open with their baskets in the morning. With this next generation you really need to stay current on technology. They're 6 and 8 now, responsible enough to handle these of course.

No seriously, I just loaded up a never ending bag of plastic eggs with coins and they will be thrilled! Learned my lesson at xmas, it is all about quantity, not quality. I am not falling for the emails from Toys R Us where they try to take advantage of my sleep deprivation and make me think that Easter is the new Christmas. A Polly Pocket doll, a chocolate bunny, a toothbrush and a handful of change, living it up at the Keenans. I also waited until tonight to open up the Reese peanut butter eggs which was a smart move, otherwise I would have eaten them and replenished them 4 times by now.

Sean wisely took a shift tonight so I am left to hide all 347 eggs myself. After a long day of holding a teething baby, I hope I can find the energy. I did learn to not put candy in them and risk Patrick finding eggs long after Easter and wiping his chocolate face on my white furniture. Priorities you know. Ho, ho, ho, happy Easter to all!

Cruel Mail Day

What should arrive on the day Sean gets orders to deploy? Why it's his football season ticket application and something from Pebble Beach. I'll just go hide this in the trash...

Good Friday?

Yeah, not so much this year. For the past week we have been waiting for army to decide whether it is appropriate to send a radiologist to run a clinic in Kuwait and now it is pretty official that he will go in 30 days. It is a very safe assignment and only for 6 months, so clearly it would be much much worse. Ideal timing too as he will miss no major holidays or events and we only have 30 days to be grumpy about it. Let's just get it over with already. We will not tell the kids until just before he goes and I know the biggest issues will come from the girls. They are angry when he goes away for a long weekend, so this will be interesting and may require therapy.

Upcoming posts to look for:
1. Things I can do with Power of Attorney while Sean is away. Will this involve a white kitchen or a whole new house? Hey, there is a 1% chance that a house that fits us better could come up for sale and then I'd just have to jump on that.
2. Things I can throw away while Sean is gone. Starting with the enormous stash of electronics boxes that he has saved, never mind we no longer own the actual electronic item.
3. Things I would have done with the moonlighting money that he won't be getting for 6 months. Like retiring someday. Or that white kitchen.

Well, the children have been terrible today with lots of fighting and not listening to me, so this definitely does not bode well for a long summer alone...

Pinecone Obsession

Patrick has a thing for pinecones and really hit the jackpot at the park yesterday. Somehow I managed to trick him into leaving them there, instead of storing them in the van to sneak into Easter mass.

Serene Lady Bug

Why, don't you just want to spend all hours of the night with this Lady Bug?!