Hockey "Mom"

This past weekend, (Wednesday through Sunday), I was the "stand-in-parents" for Kevin and Alison, the kids I nannied the summer of 2001. Alison was 6 and Kevin was 3. If you know how to do math, they are now 13 and 10. Alison is a beautiful, bubbly 7th grader who goes to Blake. Kevin is a 4th grader who loves his video games...not much different than my own 4th graders. I really got my taste of what it's like to be a parent, or more correctly, a single parent. The kids are very involved in hockey, and each had hockey each day I was there. I would drop one off, pick up the other, drop them off and go pick up the other...over and over and over. We had so much fun. I watched Alison score the first goal of the game on her all-boys team, and Kevin told me one of his teammates thought I was so "hot". Great...because I caught up on work on Friday after doing my report cards, I didn't have to do any work over the weekend. I finished a 750-piece puzzle and finished my first book since school started. I also watched 3 movies. Again, this reconfirmss my decision to stay home when I have kids. I now know I will be a great hockey/soccer/golf/dance/marching band mom...although, Chad did have to step in and help some. He got the kids off to school becuase I had to be at work before they left, and he brought Kevin his game-jersey after I got home and crashed. Thankfully, I will have Chadley by my side to help with all the sports...what a great future I have to look forward to!

Wild Weekend!

So this last weekend was supposed to be a relaxing weekend for teachers who were over-worked and stressed. We all brought our spouses, our favorite foods and of course, our favorite drinks. We played games till we fell asleep and begged to go to bed. We (by this, I mean, they) played Ping Pong till our (their) hands hurt. We had a blast! It was fricking cold...-15 at times. Nobody left the cabin at all, unless to let the dog out. It was so hard to leave on Sunday, but easier since we had Monday off, and we have Friday off...and people wonder why I chose this career...?? Pictures will come later...I'm so happy to have a cabin that I can share with friends and colleagues! Hope you enjoyed your MLK day (off...if you were lucky).

Back to school...

Tomorrow is my first day back after a full 16 days off. I never thought I would stay home after having kids, but after my little break, I can definitely see myself staying home. I got so much done:

* I got to see all my Preiner family

* I got to see my old friend Alison and her two adorable daughters

* We went to Durand to see Chad's mom and stepdad and his grandma

* I got to go to a movie with Kali

* I baked two cheesecakes; a White Russian cheesecake and a Blackberry cheesecake

* I got to have dinner with Chad's dad, stepmom and siblings

* I had lunch with Shana

* Chad and I had a romantic New Years dinner
* I put together my new Recipe Book (exciting I know)

* I wrote thank you's to all the people I got gifts from

* I spent lots of time with Chad, Tesa, my family

I hope you all enjoyed your holidays and are ready to start another year. I will keep you updated on how my rugrats are after their long break...

Can it Last?

I just found out that one of my good family friends is leaving his wife. I have known him for years, as well as his kids and his wife. They seemed like a great couple, and he a great man. But as my mom and dad found out on New Years...he had a girlfriend in Colorado for a year and was moving out. Including this couple, I have known of at LEAST 10 couples who have split up in the last 8 years. At a time when all my friends are getting married, I can't help but think...Can love last? Can a marriage last with love and happiness? Chad and I have discussed this in great detail...it seems our grandparents truly believed in marriage--they stayed married even when things were tough. Even if love seemed to disappear, they stayed married. Chad's grandpa just died and left his wife of 67 years alone for the first time. From what I hear, they fought all the time...but I saw her grieve over her husband; saw her dread going into the funeral home where she would see his body for the first time; I saw her look lost and empty for weeks. Even though they fought and had hard, hard times, they were still very much in love. Why did they last? Why were they still happy? Is it because they stayed together EVEN WHEN they thought love was gone? EVEN WHEN they wanted to kill the other?? I feel like so many people my age are rushing into marriage. They think they found "the one" and they think they know this within weeks and even months. I have such a hard time with this because I see so many marriages fall apart...those whose marriages are falling apart married believing they had found "the one." They believed they had it right and would be together forever. They had the same thoughts as all my friends and peers who are marrying. I'm not saying these marriages won't last...I'm just saying that with as tough as life and marriage can be, isn't it best to go slowly and take your time? I think some are so naive to think they are different...their love will last. Haven't we all thought that about someone we have been with? After discussing and thinking about this in detail, I see great differences in generations. Our grandparents married young, but most stayed married. Granted, maybe they weren't always happy. There were really hard times when they wanted to give up...but the majority of them didn't. They stayed married and stayed true to the vows they made to each other. Our parent's generation married young but not as young as their parents. A lot of couples our parent's age are divorcing...they're not in love anymore, they want something new...blah blah blah. What is our generation going to do? Where will we all be 20, 30 years from now? Will our marriages all still be happy, blissful and intact? How can these failed marriages not affect the decisions we make in our lives? How can we continue to be naive and think we will be different? Half of us won't be different...half of our marriages (if not more by then) will fail. So to those who judge me for living with my boyfriend before marriage, and for not being engaged yet, I say to you...we are being smart. We are not being naive...we are taking our time to make sure we will last. And even then, we can't be sure. We love each other deeply and have been through some majorly difficult and tumultuous times. But we are still together and we are still happy and in love. We know our lives will not always be blissful and happy...but we will do our best to live happy lives together because that's what we want. I hope all of you who are married are part of the 50% who do stay together. Please let me know your thoughts on this topic...I'm open and looking for thoughts...