Jinx

I totally jinxed myself in that last post.  I flippantly asked the fates for something bad to happen.  And it did.  Billy left last Tuesday morning.  By bedtime on Tuesday, I could barely get the kids to bed before falling into bed myself.  The next morning, it was clear that I was not able to function and called in sick.  After a quick test, the doctor quickly diagnosed me with influenza A and send me on my way with some tamiflu and instructions for plenty of fluids and rest. The rest was no issue, as I could barely lift my head for two days until my fever broke.

Over a week later, I am still in recovery mode.  I am booking 9 to 10 hours of sleep a night and I am still struggling to get through the day without a nap.  I have a lingering cough, and my appetite still hasn't returned.  The flu is no joke people!

Fletcher got sick on Sunday, although his symptoms seem to be much less severe. He was pretty out of it the first day, but since Monday, he's been back to his normal self. The other members of our household have come out unscathed so far.

So, the moral of the story is...don't post anything in this blog about Billy being out of town until he's back!

Pouring Rain and Lemonade

People often say that "when it rains it pours." That seems to be the theme of these past couple of weeks around our house.  Nothing too major, but enough little things piling up to make it extremely inconvenient.  

The holidays are always busy, and this year seemed busier than most.  We had 5 straight days of back to back holiday festivities.  On the second day, I was making food to take to Greenville on the 3rd day. As I was finishing up the cooking, Billy started doing dishes in the sink.  As he pulled out the faucet head to rinse a pot, the hose broke and water went spraying all over the kitchen. So, at 8 pm on the Saturday before Christmas, he went to Home Depot to buy a new faucet and installed it before we went to bed. 

Another old saying talks about turning lemons into lemonade. In some cases, like this one, it is often just looking at things in a different light.  We were fortunate enough that we could afford to go ahead and get a nicer faucet that has some cool bells and whistles that we have been wanting.  So, Merry Christmas to us...we got a fancy new faucet!

The rest of the holidays were a bit of a blur, and then it was back to work and New Years festivities with friends.  As we wrapped up the New Year, Fletcher came down with a stomach bug (cleaning vomit off of matchbox cars and a car track is no joke).  The rest of us made it through the week with no one else catching it, or so we though. This past Saturday, Billy and I both came down with the stomach bug AND Billy had a nasty cold on top of it.  

The lemonade here?  Well, my kids got to remind me how amazingly compassionate they are.  While Billy and I laid in bed and watched TV Saturday morning, the kids went downstairs and made us crowns.  I mean, how can that not make you smile?  Then, the kids had the best day ever watching Star Wars movies back to back to back and playing with Legos.  I am pretty sure that makes us the coolest parents on the planet, even though it was just our means of survival when the kids felt find and we didn't.

By Saturday evening, Billy and I were both able to eat some food and go to bed early to get lots of sleep.  So, Sunday morning we were feeling better.  So, we ran a couple of errands after hockey and church.  When we got home, we decided to investigate the offense smell coming from the fridge that we ignored the day before because we just didn't have the energy to deal with it.  I found that bunch of milk had spilled down the back of the fridge, dripping onto most of the drawers and shelves. We started taking out the food and drawers to clean it out, only to discover sitting water in the bottom of the fridge. After a moment of panic about the potential need for a new fridge, we all set to work.  

So, 4 hours later, we'd fixed the clogged hose that was not draining correctly and cleaned out the entire fridge. It seriously looks as good as it did the day we bought it, minus a few scratches on some of the shelves from sliding things in and out. On top of that, I had the joy of seeing how my kids really jumped in to help out in a stressful situation.  They were both helping me scrub down all of the shelves and drawers as well as laying on the floor behind the fridge to help their dad identify what was wrong with the fridge and when it was finally draining correctly.  And, best of all, we didn't have to buy a new fridge!  Granted, we still have Christmas decorations up with no chance of them being down before next Sunday!

Billy leaves for California tomorrow morning, so I am a bit nervous about posting this tonight as I am probably asking for something bad to happen while he's gone.  Audrey already told me this evening that she thought she or Barrett would get sick now since daddy is traveling the rest of the week.  I guess we'll find out!  In the meantime, I'll continue to try to focus on the positives and praise God for the blessings he's given us. 

Daddy Post

So here is the deal... Your mom is awesome! I just hope you all remember that one day when you are reading through these posts. She does such an amazing job of documenting the moments of your lives. One day I think you will look back at all these post and realize that much of it was stress relief for her, but still you will cherish her words. So hear I am putting my thoughts on paper so you can have a dad post. Well I hate writing, so I am really doing this to show you all how much I love you. It is so amazing to see you all get older and how you interact in the world. Audrey the little engineer, Barrett who is so helpful and compassionate, and Fletcher who just so dang fun to talk to at this age. All of you remind of your mother in so many ways (smart, caring, compassionate, and direct). I hope that all never changes.

I know this past year has been tough on you all and your mother as I have been traveling a ton for work. It seems like my position at Boeing keeps me so busy with travel away from home, but I do get to work the most talented people and on some amazing products. I thought I would throw in a few pictures to document some of the fun things I have worked on and in a way you have all supported by being good for mom. I figured you might enjoy this as you kids have really taken a love of Aerospace the past few years, so I am hoping that wont change when you get older and look back.

F/A-18EF - Not of ton of travel here, but I worked for GKN Aerospace at the time. This is where I learned a ton about composite fabrication.

F-15 Saudi Advance - Many days spent away from you all in Israel, Vermont, California, Texas, and Iowa. This is a picture of the flight test aircraft, which dad supported a few days in Palmdale, CA on a big issue. The best trip I have had was out to Utah to do sled testing for a new helmet.

Boeing 777X - Which most of the leading and trailing edges, control surfaces, and wing tip folds are built in STL. Dad's team was responsible for completing all the tools that built these components. I think spent a couple trips a month in Detroit, MI for a year supporting this project.

Boeing Phantom Express - Many days spent away from you all in Huntington Beach, CA and Kennedy Space Center

Love you guys!

Living 2019 in the How

Last night as we were driving home from our New Years celebration, Billy mentioned that 2019 means we're only 1 year away from 2020.  When we started our life together, our careers, and our family, 2020 all seemed so far off. Now, it is right around the corner.

So, as our life journey takes us into 2019, I wanted to take a few moments to pause. Typically, I would now fill this page with recollections of the events of 2018 and hopes for 2019.  But, since I always like to do things differently, I am going to take a different approach.  You see, I find it very easy to define my life by milestones of mine or my family's; where I worked, what grade my kids were in, how many kids I had at the time, which dogs we had, which house we lived in, etc.  Yet, as I recall those events, it isn't usually the details of the event I remember; instead, it is how I felt. It is the way that event made me feel that makes me either want to recall it again and again, or forget that it happened altogether.  I want to remember every single detail of my childrens' births.  I don't usually want to remember every detail of the pregnancy (especially the parts where my elevated hormones overrode my better judgement regarding how I should act).

So many times when looking back on these events, we forget to dig into the how.  We don't intentionally think about how the event made us feel, how we handled those emotions, and, most importantly, how we adapted based on it. Yet, when we fail to do that, we are doing ourselves a disservice.  It is through facing those feelings and our actions that we learn and grow.  Without that self-reflection, we stagnate and become lethargic.

Last night I was talking to some friends about some of my anxiety issues, and even though some of the hardest times made me sad to recall, I also found myself peaceful and grateful as I looked back.  Peaceful: because I have moved past those difficult times without letting them define or control my future.  Grateful: because those experiences proved valuable in me becoming who I am now.

As we enter 2019, I won't set any resolutions (because I never do).  But, I will aim to be more present and more intentional about HOW I am living my life: how I treat my family, my friends, and my community; how I use the blessings God has given me; how I spend my time; and how I react to the situations around me.  I want love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control to be the markers by which I remember 2019.  That is why the verse from Galatians 5 is going to be my Bible verse for 2019.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

I wish you a 2019 filled with love, joy and peace!