just a little something...

the year 2009 - let's wrap it up

This has been quite the year for us, and, for the most part, the good parts have outweighed the bad. Our jobs keep us busy during the day - and sometimes at night or on weekends - but we’ve had lots of time for fun, and we’ve made the most of it. If I was creative, I’d have a video highlight reel of the events of 2009. Instead, I’ll give you a list. Because I like lists.

1. We started the year in Miami for the BCS National Championship game where we watched Florida beat Oklahoma.

2. Somewhere during the year, Oliver gave up Froggy and More Froggy, and he adopted Baby as his lovey du jour.

3. Sam and I escaped to Las Vegas for a long Valentine’s Day weekend. Dinner at Michael Mina left us with a large bill and something to talk about (tuna tartare with raw quail egg on top, anyone?). Sam fell in love with Tom Colicchio after eating at Craftsteak.

4. Madeline continued her swim lessons and became an amazing little swimmer. Oliver started swim lessons later in the year, and he’s still trying to warm up to the idea that he has no choice but to swim.

5. We made two beach trips - Crescent Beach for a cold, rainy spring break, and Rosemary Beach for a last fling before summer’s end.

6. The mountains of Dillard, Georgia, were the site of our big family reunion in the middle of the summer. It was great to catch up with everyone and to watch Maddie and Oliver meet and play with their second cousins.

7. Madeline started kindergarten in public school after months of agonizing over the decision between public versus private school. Needless to say, we’re VERY happy with our decision.

8. Oliver turned three in October, and Madeline turned six in December.

9. Sam and I escaped again in October, but this time to New York City for our first real trip there. The 24 hours we spent in New York back when we won a trip to the Dave Letterman Show in the late 1990s hardly counted for much, so we knew we had to go back. We walked a lot, mastered the subway [that may be a bit of an exaggeration], saw our first Broadway show [Wicked], were treated like VIPs at a very hip bar [Little Branch - way too hip for us], and ate our way through the city. My favorite restaurant experience was our dinner at Le Bernardin - the most perfect meal I’ve ever had.

10. Fritz, our fifteen year old Maine Coon, was diagnosed with gastric lymphoblastic lymphoma in the fall. It was the first time we had to face the fact that we’re going to lose our cats eventually. That they will die. He’s done great on chemotherapy, and he’s hanging in there, but we know that the inevitable is right around the corner. And, while we’re enjoying each day we have with Fritz and Mitzi, we’re getting prepared.

11. Because of a promise I made Madeline when she turned five, we made our first family trip to Disney World to celebrate her sixth birthday. We had so much fun that we bought our first set of annual passes. Disney takes your money, but they do it so well that you almost don’t mind. Besides, watching Madeline meet her beloved princesses was worth every cent.

12. And if I may brag a bit, I’m proud of the new foods (or foods I once hated) that I’ve tried and enjoyed over the past year -- rabbit, duck, fois gras, pate, brussels sprouts, and tuna tartare. Okay, I didn’t like the last one very much, but I tried. And I’ll try it again, just to be sure.

13. Somehow I almost forgot! We made our first trip to Napa in 2009. We had an amazing experience with our travel partners - a couple of real wine pros - and made new friends along the way. As a real bonus, Sam caught the wine bug in a really big way.

today's great things list

Five great things about today:

1. The kids ate all of their dinner, without me having to beg, plead, or bribe.

2. My cozy knitted scarf.

3. I don't need a root canal, just some sensitive teeth toothpaste.

4. The two pounds of See's chocolates that arrived in the mail.

5. Watching Barack Obama take the oath as President of the United States.

basking in the glow

Even though the big game was on Thursday night, the celebration continued all weekend. On Saturday, the BCS championship trophy was on view at a local business so we went to see it. It's actually not as impressive as you might think up close, but it was neat to see. 

As you can see, Madeline was wearing her usual weekend attire. For Madeline, it just wouldn't be a normal day if she didn't wear flip flops and her princess tiara.

On Sunday, there was a big celebration at Florida Field (the Swamp!) at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. There were tons of people there, many more than I expected. 

This was just one side of the stadium, and I took the photo a good thirty minutes before the whole crowd arrived. There must have been at least 30,000 fans there. It was free, so that was another draw. 

We took the kids with us, and Nana and Grandaddy came, too. The kids did fine at first, but as their naptime came and went, they got a little antsy. When they get tired and fidgety, they start climbing on Mommy. It meant I didn't get to focus on the team's celebration as much, but it was still fun. The highlight was hearing Tim Tebow announce that he was staying on for one more year. 

We stopped for a few pictures in front of the Albert and Alberta statues. It really is a great place for taking photos. Oliver was a little freaked out by them, and he kept pointing up to Albert saying, "Bite?". 

The next game is the spring scrimmage, the Orange and Blue game, in April. I'm not sure Sam can make it until then. He has Gator fever big time. Luckily, he DVR'd the BCS Championship game, so now he can watch it over and over again until the next season starts.

last game of the season

Below are some highlights of our trip to Miami for the game last night. Which game? THE game. You know the one.

Dolphin Stadium, photo taken from our parking space. Not too shabby for $20. Better than the parking we have at UF, actually.

These were our seats. Nice to know what a hefty Gator Booster donation gets you. At least we got tickets, so I can't complain too much.

Steep, huh? After we made it up to our seats, I decided I would be making only one trip down for a bathroom break sometime near the end of the game. I try to work out on a regular basis, but even I was winded after that trek up.

Pregame. After viewing all of the photos taken of me yesterday, I've decided that I will only have my picture taken if the photographer is standing on a 7-foot ladder. No more head-on shots for me.

The huge HD screens in the endzones were lifesavers. Well, that might be an exaggeration. They saved me from having to squint to see plays on the field. It was almost like sitting in my living room watching it on Sam's new flat screen television. Except for the 78,000 other screaming fans, that is.

  

The Pride of the Sunshine has really improved over these last couple of years. I'm always amazed that they've learned how to march in a straight line, much less spell words. In cursive.

The teams got fireworks for scoring. There weren't many fireworks, but Florida got the most. Barely.

I swear, my husband could travel to China and find someone he knows. He ran into some old dental school buddies at the game. Counting these two, I think he knew at least 10 other people on the two rows below ours. 

We got stern warnings from the NCAA not to rush the field. I used to love watching the crazy fans that rushed the field at Florida years ago. It was entertaining watching them be chased down by the police, wrestled to the ground and hogtied. No more of that. Not with these scary warnings.

I think this was the last score of the game. I missed a photograph of the touchdown. I think this is the point after attempt - which was good, of course. See, with a little zoom lens, you really CAN see the field quite well from an altitude of 10,000 feet.

And this is what we drove five hours south to see. Totally worth it.

We stayed to watch the celebrating on the field at the end of the game. It was such a great feeling to watch those players jumping around, hugging each other, so excited to have accomplished this amazing feat.

We couldn't see this from our seats, but thanks to the big-screens, it almost felt like we were standing right in front of Urban, watching him accept the trophy. 

We had the best time. Even though I was up way (WAY) past my bedtime, it was such a blast. Maybe we can do it again next year.

things i'm grateful for today

1. Sudafed.

2. Oliver's hugs.

3. Being able to work out at the gym and come home to kids who have been bathed and fed.

4. My new hazelnut-scented soy candle from Target.

5. Being done with boards.

6. Top Chef starts next week.

7. Domino magazine.

8. The elections are over.

and, last but not least...

9. Change.

the earthquake in china

Today I was listening to NPR in the car, and I listened as a woman reporter narrated a story featuring a husband and wife in Dujiangyan, China. The wife, on her way to work, dropped off her son with his grandparents, who cared for child during the day. As she was leaving to go to work, the toddler asked his mommy to please stay home. She left him and went to work at a local department store. Within some short time of arriving at work -- perhaps only minutes -- the earthquake happened.

The NPR reporter explained that the mother rushed back home to the six story apartment building where she had just left her son and her parents. The apartment building was a large pile of rubble. The reporter was with the devastated couple as the excavators finally arrived, about two days after the earthquake, to try to dig out any survivors. I listened to the mother calling to her son in her native language. According to the translator, the mother begged him to come out of the rubble, to come to her voice. The desperation and agony were crystal clear in her voice -- it didn't matter that I didn't understand the language.

Listening to the grief in this mother's voice made my heart and soul ache. I sat in the parking lot of the gym listening to this, and I could not stop my eyes from watering, tearing up as I sat in my minivan, waiting for the story to end.

It didn't end well, of course. Only bodies were discovered. Nothing could survive that sort of devastating crush injury -- and these people were buried for two days under tons of metal and concrete.

It was such a powerful story. The NPR reporter, a woman, could barely tell it. Her voice cracked as she was narrating it. The grief was palpable...and so hard to listen to.

I hugged Oliver tight tonight before he went to bed. Madeline got some extra kisses. And I thanked God for them.