Level of Happiness

I was listening to the radio the other day and a happiness "expert" was talking about when people are the happiest in their lives. Well, first thing I thought was, "This is going to be interesting!"



"Happiness has many different levels throughout our life," the expert said. Yep. Agreed. I totally understand that being a child with no cares or worries would be off-the-charts happy. When you are first in love...again at the peak of happiness. I almost turned off the radio at this point. Seems like I understand this one. Then he said, "Parents of preschoolers are the least happy of all as a couple." What? Really? Well, that's me! That's us! I turned up the volume.


At first I had my defenses up. I'm happy. Who does this guy think he is? Humpf.


He continued, "Parents of preschoolers are at the lowest point of happiness as a couple because this is the time a child's life is the happiest. Parents are trying to provide this utopia for their kids. Sheltering them from the truths of the big bad world. Parents feel the pressure and strain of raising a child to be ready for school, ready to socialize, and prepare them for life after childhood."


Well, this kind of makes sense. When I got home Tod and I actually talked about what I heard on the radio. And we both agreed that some of what he said was true, but some was not the case in our family. We feel like the frustration of raising children (i.e. potty training, sleeping issues, sharing, table manners) makes our happiness level very low, however the strength in the love that we feel for our children overshadows this unhappiness.


I cannot imagine my life without these two boys. Now that would be a life of unhappiness!

Registered!

This morning Brady and I headed to Elementary school. It was his turn to register for Kindergarten. Kindergarten!?!?!?!? I am in total disbelief. AND not ready for him to be big enough to be a Kindergartner!

We were equipped with his birth certificate, proof of residency, proof of immunizations, and our check for the $25.00 registration fee. (It was only $12.00 to register Jacob...) After filling out several forms a very friendly Kindergarten teacher escorted Brady to the library to ask him some very important questions. You know, ABC's, counting and where his nose is...important stuff!

I waited in the school lobby watching all of the other parents and their shy/eager five year olds. You could tell the first timers from the ones who have been through this before. I sat on a bench and chatted with a very nice woman next to me. Her son was also in the "interrogation" room. As we talked we realized that both of our older kids were in the same class. It was so nice to talk to some one who is going through the exact same thing as me. Her son came out smiling and they went on their merry way.

About five minutes later Brady appeared. The teacher went over all of Brady's answers. He was able to identify all of his letters except the lowercase "g". He knew his numbers and was able to skip and hop. He knew all of his body parts except chest. Guess we missed that one! He was glad it was all over. So was I. I had forgotten how involved the registration process is.

On the way home I was a little sad to think that my baby is going to Kindergarten. I didn't think I would be this emotional about it. We stepped in the door and Brady said, "Can you play with me for a little while?" Yes! I have to jump on ever opportunity to play, hug, kiss, or just stare at him for a little longer BEFORE he officially turns into a Kindergartner.

My First Travel Job

It seems like ages ago that I sat down in a cubicle and strapped on the headset and started my day with a friendly, "Thank you for Calling American Express. How may I help you?" I have always worked in the travel industry and I loved it.

I did realize that I wasn't cut out to book leisure travel. I worried about everyone on their personal vacations. I just wanted them to have a wonderful experience. Once, while working for Nouveau Travel in Lexington, KY, I booked a couple on a 14 day trip to Dublin, London, Zurich, and Rome. They only wanted to stay in one place for about 3-4 nights. It was my first International trip. Once the planning and preparations were complete all they had to do was board the plane.

The day they arrived in London I got a call. "My luggage is lost!!" Oh no! Of course this is not my fault and there is truly nothing I can do about it being so far away. BUT I tried. I contacted the airline and arranged for their luggage to be sent to their hotel as soon as it arrives. The traveler was content. The next day when I arrived to work there was a voicemail for me. "We still haven't' received our luggage! YOU have to get it to us ASAP!" Oh no! Well, I spent the entire two weeks of their European vacation tracking down their luggage. And the luggage was one step behind them the entire two weeks.

I was fed all kinds of excuses why their luggage wasn't arriving on time from each airline and unfortunately I had to relay this information back to the client. Each call was a screamer.

The day after they returned from their trip they stormed into the travel office. They yelled at me until they were horse. Being sensitive I almost burst into tears right there on the sales floor. Luckily my boss was a very strong independent woman who took charge of the situation. She told them that this is an issue with the airline and not with the person who booked their travel. They were not satisfied. They handed us a bill. Yep, a bill for all of the clothes that they purchased while on vacation. A bill for two thousand dollars worth of clothing. I don't think I could wear two thousand dollars worth of clothes in two weeks!! My manager told me not to worry about it and threw away the bill right in front of the client and told them that they can no longer do business with us.

Nothing ever came of that clothing bill. Thankfully! But this taught me a valuable lesson in being a customer. I also realized that I was not meant to be a leisure travel agent! My skin just isn't tough enough!

A Big Day

Today is a big day for Brady! His preschool class is going to Kindergarten today!! He is so excited and said to me this morning that he is now a big kid going to Kindergarten.

His class will ride a school bus from their school to the elementary school this morning and become part of a Kindergarten class. They will have circle time, recess and even lunch with them. I'm not sure if Brady realizes that this is just for one day.

It has been a struggle this year to get Brady to go to school each day. He gets frustrated so easily and gives up. I feel like we are finally making progress with him and he is truly "getting" it. He has been so much fun to watch lately. He gets so proud of himself with each little accomplishment and beams for the rest of the day!

This morning has been so much fun getting him ready for school. I cannot wait to pick him up to find out how much fun Kindergarten is!!

Randomness on Friday

Thought today's blog post would be my random thoughts/actions/deeds on an early Friday morning.

*I had to take Jacob to school this morning because it was his turn (well, my turn really) to bring in the Friday Special Snack. Big deal for a second grader! He was loaded down with snacks and Capri Suns! I realized that I needed to get gas on the way home, and I am still in my pajamas! It was cold last night so I had on my flannel plaid PJ's. I was quite a sight at the pump.

*Speaking of the pump! Geesh! Next time I get gas I'm going to have to take out a loan!

*Brady loves to play in his sandbox. Loves it. Well, you can't have a sandbox inside..so...we have a bean box! I filled a rubbermaid container with beans and he plays in it constantly. A couple of days ago a little bean sprouted up from my ficus tree! Brady planted on of the beans! I've left it there to see if we get more beans!

*I've been thinking about going back to work full time. I have two leads and am really nervous about taking the next step. It has been so important for me to be home with the boys. Brady is going to be in Kindergarten in the Fall so I feel like now is a good time to go back to work. I just have so many unknowns. I don't want to put the boys in camps all summer. I may just have to wait until August and see what happens then.

February

Tod and I are strong believers that you NEVER make big decisions/plans in February!! These are very important words to live by. If we did make big decisions this month I'm sure we would be living on a tropical island somewhere selling trinkets to tourists. We are not winter/cold weather people. We made a pact that we have to wait until March 1st then reevaluate our situation and usually our big plans/decisions are thrown out the window.

This February we have been busy planning. Planning TRIPS!! And, yes, these are big plans we are making in February!

We have finalized trips to Florida, Hilton Head, New York City, another trip to Florida, and planning more trips to Myrtle Beach, Pittsburgh, Niagara Falls, and Kentucky. Yep...we are breaking all of our rules! And we may need to change our February rule.

Go West!

Tod came home from work one day last November and told me that he was going to have to spend two weeks in Seattle for work in January. At first I thought, "That is so cool! Seattle! Wow!" Then I thought, "Two weeks???!!!" He was going to come home on the weekend for the boys. We talked about it for a few days and realized with the time change that just wouldn't be practical. We got online and found a cheap ticket for me to come over the weekend. Our Super Sitters (my folks) took the boys home with them for the weekend.



It was a long 6 hour flight out to Seattle, but the views out my window were beautiful. It looks like snow, but it is a total cloud cover over Washington State.






We toured around Seattle on Friday afternoon. Had a wonderful Sushi dinner and planned our weekend. One thing about Tod and I...we are great travelers. We are always up for an adventure and never afraid to just get in the car and GO. We haven't been able to do this in quite a while. (The boys are not big on riding in the car!)



Our first adventure was up to Vancouver. Tod had never been to Canada. We woke up around 4am and headed north. The sun came up as we crossed over the boarder. A very friendly Canadian Boarder Agent checked our passports and gave us a friendly Welcome to Canada smile. We were in! Miles quickly turned into kilometers and we could never figure out how much gasoline was... dumb Americans!



Vancouver was breathtakingly beautiful!



This is the view from the Olympic Village. Just an amazing city.

We spent the morning in Canada and headed south back into Washington. At the US boarder...it was a little different getting back into the country. It took about 90 minutes. Once we reached the Boarder Patrol Agent we both felt a little nervous. She was very polite, but she meant business. She asked very good questions and I'm sure she didn't see folks from South Carolina come through that boarder every day. Here is a picture of the boarder. Lots of quotes about brotherhood and friendship between the countries on the monument. It didn't feel friendly, but I did feel safe!

That afternoon we went to Snoqualmie Falls about an hour west of Seattle. You could feel the mist from the falls across the street! I love waterfalls. Love them! This one was raging, loud, and incredibly beautiful.

Once back in Seattle, Tod took me to see his office where he has been working. This is the view from his window. He said sometimes he gets caught sitting and staring at this incredible view.

Watching the sunset over the Sound.

The next day we headed south! Oregon here we come!

The first thing we noticed about Oregon was it's beautiful trees. If you have ever seen Twilight...these are the trees you see in the movie!

I've always heard that the Oregon Coast is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Well they were right!

At every turn the scenery was ever changing and surprisingly rugged.

A chilly Tod.

You can tell it is a little windy. All of the trees grew in the direction of the wind.

More of these beautifully mossy trees.

This was such an amazing trip.