Ron Swanson and Leslie Knope.

El Hub and I were watching Parks and Rec, and there was a scene that had me go, "No, no, no. Ron Swanson and Leslie Knope cannot get together. They will drive each other crazy."

So then El Hub just looks at me. And I look at him. And then it clicks - he is likening himself to Ron Swanson, and me to Leslie Knope.

And then I laugh for three minutes straight until tears are streaming down my cheeks.

It's a fair enough assessment - El Hub is "not a sharer," as another character described Swanson in the latest episode. He's quiet. He's even-keeled, and his deadpan expression helps him excel at keeping a straight face at all times. He may not do woodworking or have a couple of scary ex-wives named Tammy, but there are still a few similarities there.

And he thinks I'm like Leslie Knope - excitable, optimistic, and raring to check things off my to do list. I even spent many years working in Recreation and have a couple of public administration degrees. I may not have the hots for Joe Biden the way Leslie does, but hey, who cares when I've got my own personal Ron Swanson?

And look, I even stuck my foot in my mouth like Leslie is sometimes apt to do. I'm sorry, El Hub. Ron Swanson and Leslie Knope could totally get together. And they might drive each other crazy sometimes, but they would love and care for each other through it all.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! This may be my favorite holiday thanks to its simplicity of expressing our gratitude while spending time with loved ones. It's been a rough several months here for our family, and I am grateful we are all here today to reflect on the changes in our lives. And on a lighter note, the awesome food doesn't hurt the holiday either.




I'm thankful for family visits. For a safe and healthy place for my dad to live.




I'm thankful for George sandwiches.




I'm thankful for a happy and healthy toddler.




I'm thankful our kiddo has a goofball dad who loves him to bits.






I'm thankful for friends.




I'm thankful for Disney and beginning to fulfill the awesomeness of introducing the kiddo to the parks I love so much (DISNEY!).




And I'm thankful I'm here. It's a good place to be.

Happy Halloween!

George's trick or treating began at a visit to my dad. This may be one of my favorite photos, ever. Some of my favorite people, in a beautifully happy moment. I pinky swear we didn't match their clothes on purpose.




Then we went home to hit up the neighbors and wow them with our son's cuteness. But first, I handed the camera over to my mom to get a few photos.




We call this a George sandwich. We usually do it because George sees up kiss, gets upset, and then insists we pick him up and give him affection. He's bossy, but he has cuteness working in his favor (for now).




Our little Mickey Mouse.




One of our neighbors gave George a car instead of candy. In the past few weeks while out on walks, George has been given: bubbles, balls, a toy truck, non-Halloween candy, and now a toy truck. It's good to be a charming toddler, apparently.

We walked all the way around the block, which is just about a marathon for a toddler. Or for a tired parent who carries a clingy toddler who refuses to walk because all the trick or treaters are weirding him out. But we got to see lots of neighbors and fun costumes, so we called it worth it.




Plus, candy. When we got home, we heard a candy wrapper rustling and then saw that George had a lollipop in his mouth. And that would be how we learned that George can take the wrapper off a lollipop.

Happy Halloween!

First haircut.

Technically this was his second haircut. His first haircut occurred several days earlier, after El Hub nagged me yet again about George's crazy curls. I took a little pair of scissors to the kiddo's mullet curls and El Hub was still not satisfied. Meanie.






Man, those curls. But El Hub seldom asks for anything, and he had been asking for this for months. And a dear friend offered to help us go to the Magic Kingdom Barbershop to take advantage of the first haircut experience they offer.



Check out the barbershop quartet of pumpkins up there. Hey yo to Halloween.




It's Disney, so they naturally see a lot of kids. Which means the hair stylists are well versed in the ways of soothing nervous toddlers. AKA bribing them with toys.




Not even paying attention to his temporary mohawk.




George felt his dada could be improved with a few Mickey Mouse stickers. Good call, buddy.




This momma right here handed the camera over so there could be some photographic proof that I was indeed there that day.




The only time George became concerned was during the buzzing of the trimmer. But the lure of the Lightning McQueen toy was too much for him to do anything about his concern.




Ta da! And he got a Mickey hat for his first haircut experience. And we got a lock of his hair to take home and skeeve him out with it when he's in high school.






He's growing up. Eating pretzels. Getting big boy haircuts. Sitting on stools by himself. Saying Mickey Mouse and shouting about cars. It's amazing, and I love it. I love this kid.



And he's pretty amusing, too. Om nom nom, kid.

Life in a state of flux.

It's a shame that when life gets crazy and it would soothe the soul to write, that it is the very nature of that time that makes it impossible to sit down and write. Things have been busy here, to put it mildly. Until things are more settled so I can properly write about them, here are some random photos to bring you up to speed:






The super busy-ness began few months ago, when my dad was in the hospital and then transferred to a short-term rehab facility. I did my best to make the latter a bit more like home with those 3M stickers for hanging pictures. Those stickers even get used in our own home because I have terrible commitment issues when it comes to frame arrangements.




Friends have been a saving grace during this time. All those cliches about finding out who people really are during tough times are true. I feel wildly fortunate to have great friends.




George got new shoes. You may not think this is important, but George sure does. They have Mickey Mouse on them, so he shrieks "MIIIEEE!" every time we put them on. And if we DON'T put those on him and dare to put another pair on his feet, he freaks out and cries. The kid is a serious Mickey fan (woohoo!).



A few months ago, I signed George up for the gym daycare. Best $10 a month ever. With El Hub constantly working insane hours, going to the gym is the best way for George to get to play with other kids without me hovering, for me to get my workout on, and for El Hub not to receive texts from me that go WHEN ARE YOU COMING HOME THIS IS ABSURD (confession: he still receives those texts from me sometimes, but on average I've increased my tolerance from 8pm to 10pm). I took this photo during one of the evenings when we got stuck leaving the gym when it was pouring rain out, and George was adorably fascinated by it.




Before and After
We kinda sorta finished our bathroom update. Kind of. I should do a proper post about this one because I am so elated about it. Goodbye, faux green marble formica. Ways in which I dramatize my joy over this: 1) I avoid ever using our guest bathroom anymore because it's just not as pretty, and 2) I taught George to say "Ooooooooh" when we go in the bathroom.




George had his 18-month appointment. He's still a little guy, but he's a healthy guy, and that's what I care about. Also I bribed him with a new $2 wooden airplane toy from Target, and he can now make "whoosh!" flying sounds as he zips it through the air.




George apparently thinks he's grown more than he has though, as he's taken to putting on our shoes. Nice try, kiddo.




Did I mention that George loves Mickey? He put the hat on voluntarily and then kept it on for a hot walk. That might even be more extreme than my own love of the mouse.




My mom sold their house last week and is moving out in a few days. She'll be moving in with us until she can find a place to buy. Speaking of where she'd like to buy, she wants to live in our neighborhood. El Hub is okay with this, pointing out that my mom has been a mother-in-law to my brothers' wives for over 20 years now, so she's pretty good at it at this point. I'm okay with this because my mom is awesome (I take after her, of course). I'm so okay with this that I printed, folded, stuffed, and labeled 80 letters to my neighbors with small houses, asking them to pretty please sell their house to my mom.



Skipping back to the topic of Dad, he ended up going from short-term to long-term care which involved moving to a new facility. And then another new facility a week after that. (I'm telling you, I could write a book.) George likes the television at Dad's new nursing home, Dad likes George, and I like watching them hang out together, so there's a lot of happiness at visits.




And finally, George has learned to shout "CHEESE!" when he holds a camera up to his face. Maybe if he likes photography, I'll actually be in some of these photos I post someday.

Siesta Key.

So life has been uber duper crazy lately. El Hub is working all the time (like, right now as I type this at 11pm on Monday night), my parents' lives are in a state of flux right now, throw in some health issues because those are always fun - that kind of crazy.

You know what's nice when life gets crazy? A vacation.

Thanks to a very kind friend of my mom's, we got to spend a week at the beach near where I grew up. El Hub even took off a couple of days from work to spend the first part of it with us. George and I were originally slated to go with him middway through the week, but then I smacked myself silly for not thinking to take advantage of staying the whole week. Hope my mom actually wanted us to stay the whole week, because that's exactly what we did. I also hope she wanted my oldest nieces camping out in the condo's living room, because that's exactly what they did. Basically, it was like my childhood on steroids with a kid of my own in the mix, just a three minute walk from the beach.

Lots of playing in the sand.















Lots of goofiness.









Yes, that is El Hub working on vacation. Go see the first paragraph about him working all the time.


Lots of family photos.
















Lots of hanging out at the beach during sunsets.












Now it's back to the busy life and the temptation to get caught up in it all again. I'm grateful for these photos, and for the memories of George running into the surf, laughing with the girls and my mom, a couple of lazy days with El Hub, and the feel of the breeze at the beach. I'll try to remember how it all felt on this trip the next time I feel that pull of life's craziness.