Moving On

So ends one crazy week. It all started on Monday with the bible study I go to...which promptly turns into a socializing time once we are done discussing the night's topic. I get there around 7pm and have yet to leave before 10pm. I love it, I'm so glad we started one, but it makes for a long day. This upcoming Monday, D has made plans with a friend because he knows I always get home so late!

Tuesday we went out to dinner with the Ruby Tuesday gift card my grandparents gave me, as a graduation gift, because it was so incredibly hot and humid. We also ran a few errands and got home later than usual.

Wednesday we drove to Jersey to visit with my dad's mom and her sister. Grandma is up from Florida and her first stop was to visit with her sister in NJ. We finally got there after an hour (it's just about a half hour ride) because of a refinery fire that was blazing right by the highway. Everyone was stopping to look, which means traffic. It was quite the blaze which produced quite the amount of smoke so it's no wonder people were checking out the scene. Once we arrived, we sat down to what turned out to be a 6 or 7 course meal. Should have known, they're Italians. We started with crackers and provolone cheese, had a bite or two of a Philly pretzel, and ate some delicious lentil soup. Auntie Jo coxed D into having some broccoli rabe with some pasta she handmade. It has a really bitter taste, so he didn't eat much, but she was very happy that he tried some. Next came the dinner rolls and the pork "with my special sauce that I couldn't make again if you asked me to," Auntie Jo told us. And the salad, can't forget the salad. Finally dessert came in the form of pizzelles and Reese's brownies with walnuts, served with tea of course. Did I mention that they only got home half an hour before us? We rounded out the night with a game of Rummikub, which David won.

Thursday we helped friends from church load up the contents of their three-bedroom house onto a moving truck. They served a pizza dinner to the many, many people who were there to help. It was so nice to see so many people pitching in. I, somehow, got stuck watching the two two-year old kids which was quite a task. I thoroughly enjoyed it though because they were so entertaining...although I will never have twins...knock on wood. I slept so well that night!

Friday D had call until 8ish and I was gathering/packing up for our day at the beach on Saturday with some friends from church. The six of us went last year around this time and really enjoyed ourselves, so we planned a day to go again this year. There were seven of us this time, however, and the little guy was most amusing. We found out on our beach trip last year that Sara was expecting and now her baby is already four months old.

We made better time going to the beach, only about two hours, this year (should be an hour and 15). We all had tents this time and I forgot to take a picture of all three tents lined up in a row. I'm sure it was a funny sight. I'll never go to the beach without one again, it made for a wonderful beach stay. That and the absolutely gorgeous weather we had: not too hot, not too humid, and bright and sunny. After we all set up our tents, D and I watched the baby while the others went to eat on the boardwalk (we packed our lunch). The little guy was nice and let us finish eating. Then he rolled over (I tried to ignore him so he'd go back to sleep) and, after a few minutes, started tapping my leg. I took that as my cue to pick him up and was rewarded with a huge grin. He loved looking at the beach scene.

Once all of our food had settled, D and I went in the water to enjoy the huge waves that kept rolling in. We were joined by everyone except Keith, who had babysitting duty. At one point, a group gathered on the beach, so the guys went to check it out. Someone had found a baby sand shark. It was dead, but we were swimming where it was pulled out of...not exactly a comforting thought.

Around 5, we packed up our load of stuff and set out to find a dinner place. We found this cute Italian restaurant and ordered pizza. That was the third time I had had pizza that week, but they were all good-tasting, so I didn't mind at all. Everyone was sleepy on the way back, so there wasn't much talking. A few people managed to crack a few corny jokes, but fortunately that didn't last long. I mentioned that next year D and I would have to come down for our yearly day-at-the-Jersey-shore with everyone because we'd be out of state by this point. Someone had a good idea: they'd come to us next year. I warned them that New England beaches aren't nearly as nice as New Jersey beaches. They seemed to be okay with that.

And finally, some pictures:

D had his first and last weekend call for this, his first rotation of his last year. He had it on Saturday which was also the start of our anniversary weekend...since our anniversary falls on Monday, a weekday, for the first time in our marriage marathon. I didn't mind so much because call at the hospital he's at is easy: weekends, 8am-4 or 5pm and weekdays, 5-9pm. I also didn't mind so much because the rest of the weekends in July are all taken up and I wouldn't have wanted him to have call then. Plus it was the first weekend back from our nice long vacation so I had plenty to catch up on.

When D made it home around 4pm, I made him/us a dinner from my Simple & Delicious magazine. And D said it was delicious, so it was a success. Then we went to a Concert on the Green of sorts at a nearby park. They had an orchestra scheduled to play that night, so we brought our blanket and our books and had a wonderfully relaxing evening together.

On Sunday, after church, we went to Panera Bread and bought their Rosemary and Onion Foccacia bread in order to make the Panini sandwich you see David eating. I can eat that at least once a week.
I cut the bread horizontally, almost like a pita pocket, and put smoked turkey, tomatoes, Italian seasoning, balsamic vinegar, and provolone cheese on it. Then D grilled both sides just enough to warm it. YUM! We ate on the patio and thoroughly enjoyed that sandwich! Later, when it cooled a bit, I made Blueberry Crumble for dessert...another recipe from S&D. Blueberries in anything are tasty, especially in desserts.

Then, around 9:15, D randomly remembers that there were fireworks set to go off, postponed from the rainy 4th. It started around 9:30, so we jumped in the car and headed down the street and found a good parking spot right next to a good viewing spot and set up shop to wait for the show. It's a good thing D remembered because it was one of the best displays I've ever seen...and I have made it a point to see a lot of them in my lifetime. Another thing that made it awesome: I did not see one kid/parent/person I knew!! And this was no small feat in the small town we live in and the numerous amount of kids and parents I know from working at a school. Darkness, thankfully, provided an excellent cover.

Monday, our actual anniversary, was really hectic. Mom and Dad paid for a pizza to be delivered to our apartment from our favorite pizza place. We ate together and then I ran off to bible study...for the rest of the night. I didn't get home till 10:30pm and by that time D was tired. Poor guy. He wouldn't say it, but he probably enjoyed a night of non-stop fiddling on the computer without any [of my] interruptions.

So, it's 3 years down and forever to go! :)

Snapshots that have stuck in my head three years after our BIG DAY:

• The perfectly gorgeous weather we had that Friday evening


• Feeling like I would pass out in the limo on the way to the church


• Dad snapping pictures of the two of us (as in Dad and me) when we were supposed to be walking down the aisle


• My thought as Dad and I were walking up the aisle: "I wish I had thought to dim these lights. The atmosphere would have been more of what I wanted..."


• The surreal feeling of looking from the outside in on my own wedding as the whole thing took place


• Nudging David so he'd say, "I do..."


• Being amazed at how quickly the ceremony went by


• Standing in the receiving line three times longer than we stood at the alter


• Offering to have the kids I watched for three years come with us in the limo so their parents could go on ahead and enjoy the cocktail hour (and now thinking how odd an offer that was on my wedding day!!)


• Cramming in the limo with five too many people...Fred the Limo Driver was awesome!


• The reception went by in such a blur


• I remember thinking that people were leaving so early, when it was already 12:00am


• Someone commenting: "I've never had so much fun at a wedding...and there wasn't even any alcohol!"


• I also remember thinking how wonderful David was for putting up with me and all the emotions that came to a head that day: mainly, joy and relief. They have a lot of subcategories, too many to list.


• How incredibly fun it all was


• Trying to remember to thank our parents for EVERYTHING they did for us to make the day so special


• My cheeks actually aching from smiling so much

David's response when asked what he remembers from three years ago:

"Everything went perfectly, as planned." As who planned, I asked rhetorically, thinking how it was such an overly simplistic guy response.

In no particular order...

It feels so weird to have a day off in the middle of the work week. I told D earlier in the week that Tuesday will be like a mini-Friday...and it was. We did our usual things like our walk and some errands (Bath & Body Works is having their semi-annual sale...body splashes, lotions, scrubs, washes are only $5...so I picked up my new favorite scent: Magnolia Blossom) and some stuff around the apartment, but it was nice knowing that we didn't have to get up early and go to work in the morning.

The rain woke us up early on and normally I love the sound of rain, but not on our day off! By the time we woke up a few hours later it wasn't raining anymore, but it was overcast. D went to the store and got us some bagels and bananas and made breakfast...while I leisurely read in bed.

That didn't last too long as we had a picnic to go to and I had desserts to make. We were invited to the same family's house we went over to for Easter dinner and we always feel so welcome there. Their house is like my house in CT, a collect-all of people, mostly family and some church friends. They're family to our friends Keith and Julie, so we got to see them for the first time in a few weeks. I made pizzelles and red and blue jello squares (with whipped cream to represent the white) for the kids. I hadn't had jello in forever and I might make it more often...it's fun to eat. We visited the entire afternoon, playing boccie ball, eating, socializing, eating, and then eating some more. We would have gone swimming if the pool water was warmer. By the time we got home, it had started to rain again. D got out his big umbrella and insisted that we take our nightly walk. It was interestingly odd, but it was better than not walking. We even saw some fireworks shooting up from backyards because the town ones were cancelled. Since we slept in, I wasn't tired so I finished reading a book I had been working on for a while. My list of books to read keeps growing, so my goal is to watch less TV and finish one book a week for the entire summer. While I was reading, D was editing his personal statement that will accompany his Residency application that is due by the end of September.

It's really starting to feel like the beginning of the end. We had to renew our lease and we couldn't do a year-long lease, so we are going month-to-month starting September 1st. Which is no fun with the increase in rent plus an extra $50 a month for not being a year-long lease. But so it goes. And it's weird to think that this time next year we'll not only know where D has his residency and where we'll be living, but he'll have started his residency and we'll be all moved in...Lord willing. So with that in mind, I've started to plan his graduation party! I know, I know...a bit early still, but no one can accuse me of not being ready for med school life to be over with! Then real life starts...well, ok, med school can last a bit longer. It's ok.

One of my kindergartners from this past year carried on this conversation:

"Is this for us?" ["This" being a booklet with lots of big words, something like a workbook, for summer camp.]

"Yes."

"Wow it looks serious. I can do it because I'm a serious girl and I can do serious things."

"You're right, you are very serious..."

-----

When I got back from vacation, another teacher gave me this note from A. Poor girl is having a crisis of conscious, I think. It's about the third note I've gotten in two weeks from her about her bad behavior in kindergarten and how she feels terribly about it now. I'm not sure how many times I'll have to say that I forgive her:

Translation: Miss Jessica, You are the bestest girl I have known, so all the bad things that I've [I thought her Iv'e contraction was cute!] done in kindergarten were mean, but I didn't mean to be bad in kindergarten. Love always, A

I love the beach.

I would totally invest in a beach house later in life.

I love the waves mostly and the sound of the ocean, but the boardwalk is a great invention, too.

D and I did go in the water. It was cold the first few mintues, but I got used to it rather quickly and enjoyed riding the waves.

All of us had such a good time there, so relaxing.

I miss the beach.

More to come...

Not to brag, but the two pieces of plant life in our apartment are still alive. After a few weeks and more of living with us. That has got to be some sort of record:

Now I have high hopes for the future garden I have always wanted to create. You know, home-grown tomatoes, cucumbers, basil, cilantro, and green peppers...hope I'm not getting too ahead of myself.

I can’t believe we’re more than half way done with June already. Time has been escaping me. Where to begin…? Well it has been one week since I’ve started taking some supplements. D and I went shopping for some Omega-3 Fish Oil capsules for my high cholesterol. I was leery about taking them because I have heard that you taste fish all the time, and while I like fish, I don’t like it over and over and over again. Well, my incredibly smart husband found “enteric” coated fish oil capsules that “do not dissolve until reaching the lower intestine.” I told Mom about these magic capsules and she has since ordered them, too (she being source of my high cholesterol). Oh, I also started taking some Calcium supplements because we are big on soy milk and try not to use a lot of dairy in our diet. And I think the calcium is working…I can feel one of my wisdom teeth growing in at a rapid pace and it’s not all that comfortable. David says one doesn’t have to do with the other, but it seems like quite the coincidence…

Moving on to Friday. I took A home with me to celebrate her last day of first grade (she was already at my school for the day). It was supposed to consist of us cooking chicken parm with penne and making strawberry smoothies for dessert. However, I made the mistake of introducing her to the Wii and her and David spent quite a bit of time on the thing. She told me that it was okay if I made dinner by myself because she wanted to play another round of bowling. I was glad to receive her permission… Same response when it came time to making smoothies. The Wii made such an impression that I received this note from her yesterday:

“I love you Miss Jessica. Tell your husband I’ll be back to play the Wii with him! I love Dougie too.” Notice that she spelled everything correctly…including the word “Wii.”

I also got another note from her on the first day of summer camp. Her mom said she was diligently making it at home. She decorated the front and on the inside she wrote, “I love you Miss Jessica. I loved it when you teached my [me] I know I was bad but I love you.” Ok, so maybe she wasn’t thaaaaaaaaaaaaaat bad….Ummm, thinking back, ok she was.

D and I took A to the mall, before bringing her home, to buy her some books at Borders Express. They had this awesome sale, buy 3 for the price of 2, and with my teacher discount I almost felt bad I wasn’t paying more for them. I love all the looks we get from random people trying to figure out how D and I could have possibly had a child that looks like her.

Let’s see…Saturday. It was a relaxing day because D had to study for his OB/Gyn Shelf exam on Monday. He suggested we go to a nearby park to read and relax, so we did just that. On the way home we stopped at our local movie theater to watch Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (A-). It feels wonderful to have nothing hanging over my head.



Sunday we went out to lunch at this really neat Mexican restaurant called El Gran Rodeo. We had an Entertainment coupon for a buy one, get one free lunch. So we paid $6.00 for that outing. Gotta love Entertainment.

Monday started my bible study, which I thought would only be an hour long. It started at 7pm and I didn’t get home until 10:30pm. We just had gotten the books that night, so there wasn’t much to discuss book-wise…so we sat around and talked and talked and talked and talked and talked. There were at least eight of us, so by the time everyone had said their fair share, it was 10:30. D called around 9:45pm to ask if I was stranded by the side of the road somewhere since I told him I’d be home long ago. Everyone got a big laugh out of that. I didn’t blame him though, he had his friend over and, well, I’ll give you one guess as to what they were doing. [Side note: D was so cute. He had seen in one of the flyers that a certain store was having a $0.69 brand name soda sale. So, on his own, without any suggestion from yours truly, he bought Sprite (because it’s my favorite) and Barq’s Root Beer. He also bought Vanilla ice cream so he and his friend could make Root Beer Floats. I was very impressed by such forethought and ensuing action].

Tomorrow we (I) pack for Connecticut and we’ll leave Friday night. Dad has already planned a food shopping trip for Saturday morning. We have to get all of the goodies for our beach trip which starts on Sunday. That’d be in 4 days, not that I’m counting…

I know, I know -- kindergarten is over. All my "kindergartners" are now "summer campers," officially, but they are still my kindergartners to me. So...

Today, sometime during the one-hour karate lesson that was taking place, S came up to me. She gave me a BIG hug, an even bigger smile, and said, "Ms. Jessica, I love you more than an elephant."

I'm still deciding if that was meant in the most loving way possible or if I should be slightly insulted at such a comment...

The Wii is the gift that keeps on costing. We started with the console, then added another controller and a numbchuck (those two, fortunately, were gifts), then he borrowed a Game Cube controller from my brother, then he bought a Sonic the Hedgehog Game Cube game (used, but still...), then he rented a Wii game when our friends were over, and now...this:

Granted he found it on sale at Target. And granted he picked out the red color to match our living room furniture. The reason he needs this chair for such an interactive game system as the Wii is lost on me. He says it's because he uses the Game Cube feature. I am considering featuring the chair as a reading chair or a using-my-laptop chair. That didn't go over so well.