Giving Thanks for our Patriarch

Our Thanksgiving celebration is over. The only dishes left to wash are the crystal glasses, which I'll tackle tomorrow. The girls are settled in bed, worn out from the excitement of playing with cousins all day. Our bellies are full and several new memories have been added to the cannon of family gatherings. Tomorrow we'll put up the Christmas tree with help from our family that is visiting. 

However, before this next busy season begins, I wanted to be sure to take a moment and write about my Thankfulness for family.

I'm thankful for the family that I didn't get to choose and by marriage, the one that I did. On both sides, I am deeply blessed. I am surrounded by kin that are loving, supportive, kind, and loyal.

On Sunday, November 19, my grandfather Gordon Pappas passed away. He was 95, a WWII POW, a musician, an educator, father, and husband.

In the midst of the semester and holiday, there hasn't been much time to process this loss.

Grandpa's death is hardly a surprise to our family. He was old and hardly more than a skeleton. He would often become dizzy when standing up and in the last month, a series of falls led him to realize that he could no longer take care of himself.

Grandpa desperately missed his wife Ruby, who passed away 8 years ago this Christmas. I like thinking that they are together once again.

He was a strong personality. As his granddaughter I was spared much of the angst felt by his own children. Since I already had father who loved me, I didn't need anything from him and unreservedly admired his forthrightness and integrity. I could always trust that Grandpa said what he felt.

I'm sure at a later date I will have more words about this man who made such a large mark on my life.

But for now, I want to say how thankful I am for his life. For the values he instilled in our family. He gave us his passion for music, faith, and most importantly an understanding that a love of learning is a life skill. I'm even thankful for his more challenging qualities. Because of his insensitivity towards his children, my mom and aunts and uncles are incessantly kind, empathetic, and tender hearted.

We got to see Grandpa this summer and I think I knew that this might be the last time. He was so tired.

Thank you Grandpa for all the sacrifices you made for your family. Your legacy continues on.

CA Summer Trip 2015

I love California. Maybe I've elevated it after having lived elsewhere for the last 12 years, but once I step out of the airport and breathe in that distinct Bay Area air, I'm home. It's like I can finally take a deep breath. More than any other place I've lived, Wichita suffocates me. The hot, humid summers can be debilitating. Everyone is always looking at everyone else with a nose in your business. It's a small town.

But in California, I just feel free. Sure, you might be stuck in traffic part of the time, but you can either look at the Bay or the mountains while you're waiting. Who needs a big house with a yard when you can be outside all year long? And the diversity! People, food, fashion, language...

I will never ever take our visits home for granted. I feel so grateful that I can regularly expose my children to life outside our midwest island. So when we go to CA, we hit it hard.

Even if it means getting up at 4 AM to catch a flight to paradise.

Can I just take a second to mention how much easier it is to travel with my kids this year? It's remarkable. The last two hurdles to a completely easy travel life are the boosters and Maia's unwillingness to try new foods. Once we've gotten over those, we're traveling internationally!

We spent some time with Aleks' dad in Oakland. We ate a bagel that actually tasted like a bagel. Not those powdery, light things you get in a grocery store in Kansas. A proper dense, chewy, flavorful bagel.

We experienced the Alameda county fair, where Aleks enjoyed a turkey leg. Unlike a good bagel, you can get those in Kansas.

These girls love their Gramps. Especially since he gave them Barbies. *cough, cough* Thanks Gramps.

We drove through the Caldecott tunnel quite often and Aleks told the girls if they could hold their breaths from one end to the other, a wish would come true. When David gave the girls their Barbies, Ruby said with wide eyes "my wish came true!"

We spent the 4th in Alameda and went to the Alameda parade, which was delightful and fun and everything a parade should be. Aleks' aunt and uncle drove up from LA to see us and it was really nice to have our girls get to know them better.

Maia has got some pretty funky moves.

My brother's band, Vinyl Station is the opener for the opener on the Rob Thomas national tour this summer. As they travelled through the Bay Area, my mother-in-law graciously agreed to house them for a couple of nights. We unexpectedly and happily ended up sharing the house, giving us some quality time with my brother and his band. We all grilled together on the evening of the 4th and were able to see the fireworks from Danni's backyard. It was a really fun night and I'm so so grateful to have had that time.

The next morning we went to brunch with my grandma and aunt and uncle who are all delightful and happy and healthy and whom we don't get to see nearly enough.

The older I get, the more and more I resemble this lovely lady.

We had a few hours to kill so Aleks and I decided to swing by the winery where we got married. It was still there! And looked smaller than we remembered. What is it about things like that? Maybe the largeness of the event grows the memory or perception of the reality. We left with two bottles of wine  and happy memories.

Then we jetted over to see my grandfather who let the girls swim in his gorgeous pool while we sat and talked.

He also amazed them with his trumpet. We might have a future trumpeter on our hands.

We slept for a little bit and the next day, when we woke up, Danni took us to the Boardwalk! I think the last time I went to the Boardwalk was in middle school with a church group and I couldn't decide who I had a crush on, James or his friend. And I laughed so hard on one of the rides that I peed a little. Ah, memories.

I had forgotten about the rings on the carousel. I could have ridden that thing all day trying to get the rings in the clown's mouth. I did manage to grab two rings on one pass several times. I felt like a teenager again.

We ended the day on the beach. As we were leaving Maia said "can we go to the beach everyday? but let's find one that doesn't get sand everywhere."

Our final big adventure we had was to ride across the Golden Gate Bridge on bikes. We did this last year and all agreed it was one of the best days of our lives.

This year was different, of course. It was still a wonderful day. There was fog and mist and less sun. Not that we minded one bit.

Both girls rode tagalongs, which meant no one had to drag a trailer behind them.

But then I decided that we should bike all the way to Tiburon. It was only lunchtime and when do we get to enjoy the Bay like this?

I should have doubled checked the mileage. We ended up biking 22 miles without sunscreen or water. We all had sore sit bones the next day and I ended up with a nasty sunburn on my back and hands.

It was still a magical day that was topped off by Maia pulling out a tooth!

We had a busy, marvelous time and yet didn't get to see a fraction of the family and friends that we would have liked to visit. I could have spent a few more days at the beach too.

Now we're back in Kansas, where the sky is big, the houses are affordable, and the traffic is non-existent. I'll be dreaming about our California adventures for the rest of the summer.

The start of summer: I'd give it a B+

It's been ages since I've sat down to write and life has been full during my online absence.

Once classes at the university were over, I immediately started painting. Judging from the paint cans in our basement (left by the previous owners) it's been 7 years since any room has been painted. Now that Aleks has tenure, it's time to take some ownership of this house and I'm hoping to paint the entire interior within this year. Summer is a good time to get a lot of it done.

I painted our bedroom in the fall and in the last month have completed the remaining upstairs bedrooms. We decided to move Ruby into the craft room and so for a week our house was in total chaos. My timing is really something. I finished putting together the two rooms the day I left for Washington.

The old craft room/color.

New color/Ruby's room.

Ruby's old room (with the old color) about 3 years ago before the big girl bed.

New color/craft room/office.

At the end of May I headed to the tri-cities in Washington to sing with the Mid Columbia Symphony. I got to sing my first Beethoven 9 and Bruckner Psalm 150. My friend Nick Wallin conducts the orchestra and does an amazing job getting a high quality performance with just a week of rehearsals. It was a thrilling experience to sit on stage in front of the orchestra and hear such a masterpiece in this way. Not only was it a rewarding musical experience, but I also met some extraordinarily warm and lovely people.

It also didn't hurt that there are some beautiful wineries and wine in the area.

The week I got back the girls attended princess camp, which was basically an introduction to ballet and tap classes, while learning to be princess-y. Or whatever. Obviously, because they are a typical 4 and 6 year old, they loved it.

Personally, I couldn't get enough of their leotards and buns.

The week ended in a coronation, so just FYI, Maia and Ruby are real princesses now.

And when everyone played freeze dance, they wasted no time finding each other to waltz together. It makes me so happy to know they will always have a dance partner.

Our transition into summer hasn't been seamless. The girls were absolute terrors the first two weeks: not listening, sassy, and disobedient. It wasn't fun. Thankfully, the past week has been much better. They've remembered how to play together and be respectful and find a rhythm in our less structured days. We've been able to spend some time at the pool and have made lots of trips to the library. Maia is devouring the Junie B. Jones books.

If you listen to the national news, I'm sure you've caught wind of the mess Kansas is in right now. I read this article, which I feel is easy to read and sums things up nicely. My emotional welfare is not usually affected by politics, but I've found myself feeling quite sad this past week.

On Thursday my grandfather was flown out on an honor flight to DC to be honored for his service in WWII. My aunt Annie was able to go with him and posted this on her instagram account:

I admit that I come from a long line of educators and may be biased, but my heart just breaks over the respect and treatment our teachers and schools receive here in Kansas. Not to mention the poor and lower middle class. Something has to change. I'm confident it won't be this way forever, but it sure doesn't make the humid midwest summer any easier to stomach.

A silver lining is that the girls and I are headed to Arizona next week to see my family and soak up some sun in the pool. Be warned: I'm sure my social media will be flooded with pictures of my girlies with their cousins. It's gonna be cute!

Here's hoping your summer is off to a great start!

Cruise ship living on land

The girls woke up at 4 am this morning.

Huge blessings should be heaped on my husband for getting up with the girls and letting me lie in bed for another hour.

Our clothes are currently covered with Lola hair, but it's well worth the occasional dog hair in the mouth for the amount of joy my girls are getting from petting this slobbery creature.

"You're have such soft fur" "what a good girl you are" "that's a sweet girl" are a constant purr from their mouths, creating a very maternal undertone to our days.

We are spending as much time outside as we can.
Warm in the sun, cool in the shade, basically perfect all the time. It explains the price people pay to live here.
I want to live here.

I'm so happy to be here.

We're all decompressing a bit.
But Kansas isn't too far from mind. Our connections, those strings that have been strengthening for the past 3 years, are tugging at us, making me feel grateful for new roots, while appreciating the old ones here by the bay.

Today we went and visited Grandpa Pappas who has recently moved into a new senior living facility. Visiting his new home was like stepping aboard a cruise ship without the hassle of packing bags and having to renew a passport.

We fed koi just outside the dining room.

We shared a delicious meal. The server even made Maia a peanut butter sandwich, no jelly, and cut up strawberries specially for the girls.

And then we used the beautiful swimming pool, which is housed in an indoor facility, with a retractable sunroof.

This was the first time Grandpa had used the pool and it looked to me like he picked up right where he left off. My 92 year old hero swam a couple laps and then we all enjoyed the therapeutic bubbles of the hot tub.

Grandpa is popular and well liked by all the residents and staff. Every hallway produced opportunities to meet neighbors and friends, each one friendly and kind.

It was a good, happy day.