I needed a win

The past few days weeks months have been stressful. I'll spare the details, as I could go on for quite a while and I'm realizing that stress and disappointment are part of life. So logical Allison tells whiny Allison to shut up and deal with it. I'm also realizing that amidst said stress, every once in a while you get a break. You have a good day and you have to celebrate that; it makes the bad days much more bearable.

Mabes has been much easier in the last few days, due in part to a fever Wednesday afternoon that, though she said she felt fine, calmed her down and made her take a nap. I'll take what I can get. The rest of the day and yesterday, she was my sweet Mabes again. I missed sweet Mabes. Sweet Mabes is an absolute joy.

After many classes, countless hours of studying, and lots of hard work, Dave passed the test and is now a certified project management professional. I don't really know what this means beyond more letters on a business card or resume, but we're told it will help with the job search.

Mabes and Annie (as Mabes has now been calling her) get along really well. Mabes loves when Annie watches her play in the playroom, and it's fantastic. I can keep an eye on them from the kitchen, and they keep each other occupied. Except when Mabes has to go to the bathroom and comes in, "Um, Mommy, I need to go potty so can you watch Annie for me?"

So as I stood in the kitchen yesterday listening to Mabes sing a silly song that made Annabelle laugh so hard I momentarily feared she might explode, I realized things are pretty good. It also didn't hurt that while listening to the baby laughter, I was frosting and eating cookies.

They were logical Allison's idea, too. I like her.

That's *my* dad!

Dave gave a talk last Sunday, and in his opening, started off with a couple of witty remarks which made the audience laugh. Mabes really had no clue why what he was saying was funny, but looked around, saw everyone laughing, and threw her head back laughing as hard as she could saying, "Oh, Daddy..." I instantly recognized the look on her face. It was a look of complete pride that that was her daddy making everyone laugh, and I could tell she wanted to shout, "See! That's my dad! Isn't he awesome?" I recognized that look, that feeling, because I had that every time my dad spoke in front of a group. That was my dad!

In high school, I would often have friends over for barbeques (or cookouts, as they are called here), trampoline jumping, and Nintendo (specifically Mario Kart--and I wonder where Mabes gets it). It was only a few years ago that I found out that my dad was secretly honored that not only was I not embarrassed to have friends over, I didn't push him and my mom out or roll my eyes when my dad would greet the guys with "what it is, man." The truth is, I thought my parents were cool. They didn't try to be, and they certainly knew their limits as parents. But my friends always left saying, "You're dad is so funny!" Yeah, I know. That's my dad--he's awesome.

The only thing we didn't do in California last month was have a long talk with my dad. He's great at advice, and just a good person to talk things through with. Even though these talks usually end with me in tears, they are uplifting and motivating, and end with him telling me that everything always works out and that I'm great and he's proud I'm his daughter. I want to turn to my imaginary audience--that's my dad! Hilarious, but also smart, loving, gives great advice, and gives the best hugs on the planet.

So happy Father's Day to my dad, and happy Father's Day to Dave. We stayed out too late last night with Mabes and we paid the price today, and she wasn't able to fully show Dave her love and appreciation (unless destroying things, talking back, and being generally unruly are how she shows love and appreciation, in which case, great job, Mabes!) But despite days like today, I can see how much she loves him just by how she looks at him. He is her world, and though she'll grow up, she'll always be his little girl and will always be able to turn to him to be cheered on, comforted, encouraged, and loved. I know this because that's how I look at my dad--that's my dad.

Newsflash: Don't believe everything you read on the internet

On my third (and most important) load of laundry yesterday, I noticed that the washer tub wasn't spinning, as evidenced by the soaking wet pile of Mabes' and Annabelle's clothes. So after some googling, I determined that the problem was a broken motor coupler. The solution was either pay a repairman $120-$200 to fix the problem, or buy the $20 part and easily fix it yourself. Our washing machine is old. It was given to us by some good friends and we're very grateful for it, and when we got it, we had the attitude of "It could die any day, but hey! Free washer!" But I needed to finish my laundry and I didn't want to buy a new washing machine, so I figured I'd channel my inner Wanda* and fix it myself.

As I raced off to Sears to buy new coupler, I was thinking "This will be fun! I'm handy. And since the internet says it should only take 20 minutes, I can fix it after the girls go to bed, finish before Dave gets home, and then watch So You Think You Can Dance with a celebratory bowl of ice cream." Fool.

I rewatched the YouTube video a few times, and realized that the handyman didn't say how he got to the motor. More googling, and, crap. I have to take apart the whole thing? Fine. Unscrewed and pried everything apart, and get to the motor and transmission below the basket. Mine looks a little different than the video, but oh well. "Remove the clamps to release the transmission, then pull the broken coupler off..."

Seriously? First, it took me a good half hour to pry the clamps off. I'm not sure how the handyman did it so easily without the jaws of life. Then I had to get the coupler off. Who knows how long that took. Then I had to get the new one on--"a few gentle taps" my foot, handyman! But the part was replaced and all I had to do was put everything back together. And it was time to put the transmission back on. For as long as it took me to get it off, I knew it would take longer to get it back on. Fortunately, Dave was home at this point and after a lot of struggling we finally got it back on. More or less. Closed up the washer, did a test run, and for the love of Junior Mints, the drain hose fell off and there was water everywhere. But the tub in the washer was spinning, so I did something right. By that point, it was almost midnight and I was exhausted, so I decided we'd fix the the hose in the morning. I had a consolation bowl of ice cream before heading to bed, where I dreamed of broken washing machines and flooded laundry rooms all night.

It took a surprising amount of effort, but I finally got the hose back on this morning, and only had to clean up a small flood in the process. And most importantly, the washer is working. For now. I finished all my laundry and I'm pretty proud of myself for figuring out this repair. But I'm also a little nervous that the whole thing is going to fall apart on the next spin cycle.



*I don't mean to slight my dad. He has certainly made his share of repairs. But my mom does a lot of home improvement and repair. I mean, she bought us a drill bit set when she was here in January. And I was reminded of my dad's repair style around 10:30 last night as I was lamenting not becoming a lawyer: At some point, my dad calculates how long it would take to bill a client enough to cover someone else doing the repair/buying something new and figures it's not worth his time. And it's off to Best Buy.

I couldn't do that, though, so I figured out how much it would cost to repair or buy a new washer in terms of Junior Mints, ice cream, and Diet Coke, and resolved to repair it myself. And buy a box of Junior Mints.

10

I had this scheduled to post at 11 (the time we got married, though I guess to be technical it should be 11 am pacific time) before Dave did his, but then he swooped in and beat me to the punch. Guess I'll forgive him.

Shortly after Dave and I got married, I was working with another girl who had been married for a whole year. Maybe it was two. In any case, it was a long time. She was talking about what she wanted to do for her fifth and tenth anniversaries, and I was just thinking, "Ten years?!?! That's so far away! We'll be so different then!"

In truth, the last ten years have flown by. I don't feel older, I don't feel more mature, and I sometimes wonder where these kids came from and why one of them keeps calling me "mudder." I feel like not much has changed in our relationship in the last 10 years. He still makes me laugh, we still stay up way too late talking (I'm hilarious after midnight--at least to me I am...), and we still have enough common interests to feel like there's just never enough time. Yet things have changed. Things haven't gone the way we planned, but as cliche as it sounds, every challenge, disappointment, and struggle has brought us closer and made us stronger. He is my rock, and I am his. He is my best friend and an amazing father to Mabes and Annabelle.

If the last ten years have taught us anything, it's to not take anything too seriously. And to be able to laugh at ourselves. Thanks, Dave, for making me laugh. For turning a blind eye at my Diet Coke and Junior Mints/M&Ms/chocolate chip cookie/popcorn habit. For hugging me and bringing kleenex when I need it. For pushing me to be better. For listening even when I've apparently told you all my stories from childhood. For being my strength when I've got nothing left. For our two beautiful girls. Thanks for the last decade. Here's to the next...

To the moon!

Fly me to the moon

Let me play among the stars

Let me see what spring is like



On Jupiter and Mars



In other words, hold my hand



In other words, baby, kiss me.




Fill my heart with song



And let me sing forever more



You are all I long for



All I worship and adore



In other words, please be true



In other words, I love you.

Celebrating 10 wonderful years of Team Whitley...



-dave

Monet, Manet, Mabes

Mabes draws. A lot. And I love them and could keep all of them, but I don't want to end up on Hoarders. So I'm saving them here. A sampling:

The pet period

Pets we've acquired and had to let go because they "missed their families." No, we didn't kill them. It may have been close, though. On the left is Green Bean, on the right is Black Bean (original, huh?) a lightning bug/firefly. I was hoping it would light up in the jar just like in stories I read as a kid. We caught two and they didn't light up. Mabes was sad to see them go, so she drew pictures to remember them.

The evolution of sisters

Note how Annabelle started off with brown hair, and now it's blonde. The swirls symbolize their silliness because, as Mabes puts it, they are silly sisters.


Mario Kart Period

Mario and the Cheep Charger. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little embarrassed by how much she loves Mario Kart.

Awesome

A monkey inspired by WordWorld. If you look closely, the monkey's body spells monkey.

PSA

It's a "no smoking" sign. She decided to make about a dozen of these today. I asked what inspired this, as we don't know anyone that smokes. She told me that when she rode the train to uptown with daddy, there was a no smoking sign. Because we don't want smoke in the train. And there were smokers outside of the train. Since we don't want smoke in our house, we should put the signs up so people will know not to smoke in our house. I was grateful for that reminder on my bedroom and bathroom doors. I still have 3 signs left (I assured her that we don't need them everywhere, but she's convinced that someone might see that there's no sign on Annabelle's door and take it for a smoker's lounge), so if anyone's in the market for a "no smoking" sign, I'd be happy to send one along.

And a gratuitous picture of Annabelle, just because...

A few more California pictures

Mabes insisted on holding Annabelle before the plane took off, though Annabelle seemed a little nervous about her first flight:

"Wait, this 300,000 pound mass of metal is going where?"

We got to California, enjoyed In-N-Out, and introduced Annabelle to my dad and Aunt Nancy. We had a fabulous week of food, playing games, visiting friends, and just spending time with family. Becca flew in Saturday night, and Laura came in Tuesday night. Mabes loved the attention, and if for some reason the attention wasn't on her, she redirected it. Though Annabelle was a bit fussier than usual (can't blame her--with the time change, new places, and crazy people, I was fussier than usual, and I knew what was going on!), she was still awesome.

For the most part, we just hung out, ate, went shopping, ate, flew the kite, and ate, but before we left for California we decided that we'd take Mabes on a field trip on day to the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield. My mom, Laura, and Becca joined us, and it was a great trip.

We toured the factory, got to see how Jelly Bellies are made, and got to sample one at each stage. Mabes had a lot of fun watching the machines and seeing how much work went into making a bag of jelly beans, and was thrilled to get her own bag to take home. Annabelle...well, again, she was awesome and happily went along for the ride. She's a good sport to put up with us.

On the Saturday morning that we were supposed to fly home, I went to check in online as Dave started taking our bags out to the car, only to find out that our flight had been canceled. I called the airline, and found out that due to weather in Dallas (where we had a connection), all flights had been canceled, and we were put on a red-eye that night through Chicago. For a brief second, I thought, "We can do a red-eye--if the girls slept for the entire time, it would be really nice..." But then the sane part of my brain took over and knocked sense into me. Red-eye flights and children don't mix. Red eye flights and Mabes? Heaven help me.

So they put us on a flight the next day, and you know how you always want just one more day of vacation? We were happy to get that. We got to meet Becca's boyfriend who was flying in that day, I got to finish birthday shopping with my mom, and Dave got to catch another movie with my dad and siblings while my Mom, Mabes, Annabelle, and I got to go to a local creamery for ice cream.

"Stop taking pictures and let me eat my ice cream, Mom!"

That last day turned out to be one of the best days of the trips, and I'm so grateful for the bad weather in Dallas! That night, Mabes got to read stories with Grandma, and Louie jumped in for old time's sake.