My response has become to say that I’ll put it on their birthday wish list. Now everything is a request to put on the birthday list. *sigh*

Berry’s birthday is coming up. In case you’d like some ideas of what to get her (should you want to get her anything, you’re certainly under no obligation at all to do so), here goes:

• Games for the Wii
• Sparkly coloring pens
• Summer clothes in 4T – short-sleeved, skorts, t-shirts, shorts, etc.
• Hair bows
• Puzzles (more than 25 pieces, less than 100)
• Educational games that she can manipulate and get ready to play herself
• Movies – specifically involving Dora and/or princesses

Her current favorites are:

• Color: pink
• Animal: probably cats/kitties, also puppies and penguins
• Adornment: sparkles and bows
• Characters: Dora, Hello Kitty and Disney princesses

Clothing sizes:

• Shoe size: 9 1/2.
• Clothing: 4T

Duncan
Lest Duncan feel left out, here’s his info:

Clothing sizes:

• Clothing: Currently in a 5/6, going into a 6
• Shoes: size 1 boys
• Needs: Summer clothes – mostly shorts and PJs. He’d really like pink clothes, preferably with Dora on them

Favorites:

Things he’s into:
Duncan likes figuring out how things work, whether it’s the human body or the lock on the back door. He likes gears, marbles and cuddly toys. He spends hours drawing intricate musical gas pumps and weather machines – so more construction paper would be great. Especially if it has Dora on it.

First, there were presents from Grandma and Papa Rog.

Then there was a box from Gram and Grandad Pocobello.

Duncan was a little disappointed that none of the clothes had Dora on them. But he recovered.

Today, they both wanted to wear a selection of the clothes to church (of course!). I took a few photos and attempted to get the kids to stand up still next to each other, but they had other ideas.

We will try to get thank you letters out, but it’s possible that this electronic thank you will have to suffice.

Wednesday night I got up in my weakened state to get a drink from the fridge and blacked out, collapsing on the floor, but not before squishing my face with the glass I was drinking from and bonking myself on the head. I have no memory of it, as I was already unconscious at the time.

It was very confusing to come around, lying on the cold, hard, wet floor (I was soaking in apple juice). I thought I’d fallen asleep somewhere. I ended up in Urgent Care yesterday as I went to work in the afternoon and was extremely dizzy. Fortunately, my brain isn’t bleeding. However, upon learning that I sometimes have an arrhythmic heart beat, I got to have an EKG and get to have some kind of Holter device strapped to me for a couple of days to check on my heart rhythm. Fun. I also have a very low resting heart rate, which doesn’t really surprise me, as everything else tends to be low as well – blood pressure, temperature, etc. Maybe my heart is just super healthy and efficient. Or maybe that’s why I blacked out.

What I was going to post about was our seed starting adventures last weekend. We don’t have much room in the garden here, but enough to grow some lettuce, arugula, etc. So, with Duncan and Berry’s enthusiastic help, we started seeds last weekend.

From 2010-02-February

It didn’t take them long to sprout on the kitchen window sill. This is how they look today.

From 2010-02-February

The ground is still too soggy to put them out any time soon – I need to work some compost into it that’s been brewing over the winter.

As our least is up mid-August, I won’t plant anything in the ground that won’t have ripened before it’s time to move out. I left a few dozen pounds of beautiful green tomatoes on the vines in Rochester when we moved. I’m told, by the new owner, that they were delicious. This time I’ll be putting them in pots.

More updates to follow soon. Some mysterious packages from grandparents arrived in the mail yesterday that the kids really enjoyed opening.

The Droid can do that.

Clearly, I’m not the only one that loves it. Duncan has been spelling and writing more and more lately, and has recently developed an interest in sending Kevin text messages. Sometimes they are random strings of letters – but sometimes he accepts my encouragement to write real words.

This morning he was quite enamored with typing on the Droid keyboard, so I took the opportunity to snap a couple of photos of his sweet, concentrating face.

From 2010-02-February

From 2010-02-February

I love my job, but the grind–of getting up and ready for work in the morning and getting everyone out the door relatively on time and the evening routine of feeding, bathing and putting to bed–gets old by Friday. There’s not much time for FUN in there when you’re focused on moving from one thing to another to keep the life machine going. (Although, some mornings I do animate a cuddly toy as it somehow gets more attention than my plain old mummy voice.)

Weekends are a blessing. There’s still stuff to get done – like grocery shopping on a Saturday morning and mowing the lawn. But there’s also time for play, time to be outside in the garden, time to color with the kids or show them how to play the Wii.

Today’s activities involved pretending to be doggies with Emma (video courtesy of the Droid phone). Sam did his best to pretend he couldn’t hear the barking.

After nap, it was time to play in the garden. I realized the grass needed a good mow and my mum felt compelled to document the occasion. I’ll spare you the video of me pushing the rotary mower around the front yard in a seemingly random pattern (it works for the Roomba) and leave you with this photo instead.

From 2010-02-February

I am amazed that there are flowers blooming and trees budding in February. Given that the climate was one of my big motivators for moving, I’m so happy it turned out to be a good one.

Here are Duncan and Berry enjoying the delights of February in Oregon — playing on the swings and feeding the chickens.

It isn’t easy to know why the twists and turns of life’s journey bring you to the places they do. Sometimes the light shines clearly on your path and, at others, you have to go within and listen to your intuition in order to navigate safely when the way seems dark.

It’s been an eventful year.

Moving to Oregon
In the spring, we sold our house in Rochester (in 3 days!) and readied ourselves for a move to Eugene, OR, to start our new life. Kevin and I both looked hard for full-time work and I landed a fantastic job with a hospital foundation. I’m a communications specialist—writing, editing, creating graphics and websites, and spearheading social media campaigns—for Sacred Heart Medical Center Foundation. Going back to work full-time has had its challenges, but I love my job and the people I work with.

Kids in School
Duncan and Berry started school together in the fall at a Montessori school, which they both really enjoy. It’s amazing how much they learn and pick up—the songs, safety tips, knowledge and new skills. We’ve all been well trained on what to do should we become accidentally set on fire. Stop. Drop. And roll.

Living with a Parent
My mum moved from South Florida to live with us in Eugene (we’re actually about 10 miles south in the little town of Creswell) and spends lots of time with the kids after school while I’m at work. Navigating an adult live-in parent relationship is an interesting task, one that we’re all learning and growing from. But I’ve spent years missing having my family close, so I’m grateful for the opportunity to enjoy it now.

The Pets
Our very old cat, Hobbes, is still hanging out with us, meowing as loudly as ever. She’ll be 18 in the spring. We found new homes for our multitude of turtles before moving, as we didn’t think they’d appreciate the cross country trip. If you ever met our attack fish, Sid Fishious, you may be sad or delighted to learn that he/she passed on of natural causes before the move. We’ll always have our memories—like when Duncan was a baby and it escaped from the tank at 4 a.m., slapping itself on the floor until Kevin scooped it back up into the tank. We added two chickens to the family in the fall—Bernadette and Penelope (Benny and Penny for short)—who reside in a coop in the back yard and are finally laying eggs.

Family Changes
Perhaps the most unexpected news is that Kevin and I are divorcing. It’s not the fork in the path that either of us had hoped for, but I’m at peace with the decision. Our focus is on making sure Duncan and Berry continue to feel loved and secure—and for all of us to heal as we move forward into the next phase of our lives. Love, prayers and thoughts are always appreciated.

I hope all is well in your world. We always love hearing from you.

Warmest wishes for a peaceful holiday season,

Eating locally – lunch from the garden, originally uploaded by JoannaBG.

Even the eggs are from the garden. Although I guess I can’t take credit for the garlic and olive oil.