Minivan envy and other oddities

So it has really been awhile since I've updated... to summarize: We now have a new little girl in our family, Teagan! She is wonderful and wonderfully stubborn simultaneously. She is all smiles most of the time and when she is not smiling and blowing raspberries, she gets downright PISSED OFF! We just love her to bits :-) Alise has really grown up, become more responsible and is really a HUGE help around the house. I thinks she really enjoys being the big kid now, although there are times where she misses our alone time or our night snuggles. I miss them too...

She has really shown this year, making highest honors, winning all sorts of awards at school and really sticking with and working hard on her passions (horses and sports). I'm so glad that this HUGE transition did not send her into the negative attention zone. She really is my favorite 9-year-old!

So onto the thought that spurred me to finally push past my bleary-eyed sleep deprivation and blog tonight.....

My sister bought a minivan.

I know, this does not seem like a momentous enough event to invest an entire night of blogging to, but the whole situation got me thinking. It was mostly her reaction to getting a minivan that sparked my reflection. She was happy and nostalgic, excited and sad.... a mixed bag of emotion for sure. But I realized that we are now officially deep into a new chapter in our lives. And after much thought, I am convinced that these years are the best years. Saying goodbye to our youth is hard, but is it really? I mean, the freedom was great... free to travel, free to look great and blow all your money on clothes and cocktails and other frivolities... but really, I wouldn't trade it for what I have now...ever. Our thirties should be a time to be celebrated! We are more confident and comfortable in ourselves (even though our bodies have been wrecked by the miracle of childbirth), we are putting down roots and building our own families, we are achieving goals and being role models to our children and to our communities. We are truly at peace for the first time in our lives. I used to walk around campus, after I had graduated and became an "employee", and wish I could be back in the shoes of those young students floating around campus... Now, I wouldn't want to be anywhere other than right here, right now.

Happy Birthday Della

Della Autumn Fader

Born - February 13th, 2009 (8lbs 3oz, 20.5in)

Check out more baby and belly details at our collaborative blog - http://bewees.blogspot.com/

Pisketti

I just had to share...

Spin Off Series...

So, my sister and I have entered a new and similar chapter in our lives... Pregnancy. So in order to commemorate this occasion we have created a collaborative blog:

http://bewees.blogspot.com/

Check it out...



No worries though... if you want non-pregnancy banter that is a little less gruesome, this blog will still be up and running. Below is Alise's first day of school... but first, a stop at the mulch pile.

Philanthropy gone awry

Last night... A simple evening trip to the grocery store (yes, I shop at 10pm - it's quiet and I'm a night person, deal with it)... turned into something odd and thought provoking...
So, I pull up to Hannaford's at around 9:30pm (Sunday night) and I notice a homeless man sitting on the bench right outside the entrance. Well, I should say that my first impression was that he was homeless - it's 90 degrees and he has heavy clothes on, he's very scruffy and thin, has a beat up suitcase in a shopping cart and he has bags upon bags of newspapers, coupons, etc. and he seems to be making himself right at home on this bench - first thought... homeless, right? So... I go inside spend about an hour or so shopping. On a related side note, I was craving chocolate ice cream the whole way to the store (which may or may not have prompted my grocery trip.. don't judge me!) So at the end of my trip, while in the frozen section I grabbed 2 individual sized Ben and Jerry's Chocolate Brownie Ice Creams - they were the individual sized ones... not the pints, really! One for tonight, and one for later on in the week when the craving visits again. I went outside to my car, grabbed the ice cream and started to eat it... right in front of the bench guy. When I thought, wow... I'm so fortuntate to be eating this fantastic (and it was!) ice cream on such a warm night... I should share my second one with this man. I was about to drive off , when I reached into the bag instead, got out of my car and approached him with it. The following short dialogue ensued...

(Me) "Hey, do you like ice cream?"
(Bench Guy) "Excuse me?"
(Me) "I have an extra ice cream, do you want it?"
(Bench Guy) - with a frown and an eww face - "Um, sorry, I don't eat dairy or meat"
(Me) - nervous laugh - "Oh, OK... I'm sorry" - nervous laugh... can't get back to my car fast enough.

I shut the door to my car, drove a block and and felt awful... At first I thought it was because it had all gone down so opposite of what I had expected... I originally had the vision of my thoughful gesture being reciprocated with a kind smile or a thank you, or a "wow... people are really good after all". But instead a scowl and a smug response. I thought about this all night... and then I shared the story with Korey and he actually had some valuable insight. I felt bad, not because I had clearly not offered up a vegan option he could enjoy, but because I judged him and I was wrong. He had a story and I just wrote it for him instead of hearing it. I really thought I was nicer than this, but no... I'm a jerk.