No Fear

My daughter may be deaf.  At 3 1/2 she may hardly be able to speak because of the combination of deafness and the repair of her cleft lip/palate but nothing, I mean nothing keeps this kid away from water.  Since moving back to Indiana we have spent our fair share of time in my parent's pool.  Last year was Emi's first real swimming experience in a pool.  The year we brought her home, we didn't get in a pool at all.  She was a little apprehensive last summer.  She pretty much just hung out on the steps and absolutely disliked the baby float.  She was somewhat OK in our arms but we needed to stay where it was shallow.  Towards the end of last summer she got more brave and we were hopeful.  This summer she is crazy in the pool.

As a matter of fact, just yesterday she was wearing her water wings and decided to take them off and jump straight in.  Mind you she can't touch the bottom.  She's still too short.  Eriks was in the pool so he helped her but she is well on her way to learning to swim.  After jumping in, she did shoot herself back to the surface and was trying to kick to stay afloat.  The problem is she doesn't want to use her hands to help her swim forward. With the water wings she is jumping into the 8 ft deep end of the pool and loving every minute of it.  Jumping into the water is her thing.

So here's praying she'll be swimming by next summer without water wings.  Enjoy the photos from Emi's water fun this summer.

A Week in Paradise

It's been more than a month since our trip so I figure it's about time to blog about it.  I've been busy this week with sending Lane off to law school and Eriks off to his new school.  Both of them seem pretty happy with their new surroundings.  Although Lane is concerned about balancing family, school and studying but I think in a few weeks he'll have a groove going and it'll be fine.  Eriks really likes his new school.  Although it's a haul from our house (luckily it's close to where Lane goes to school so he can take him in the morning), he is in a very small class.  Only 9 second graders total.  I think the whole school only has about 70 students.  So I'm happy that he's happy.  We'll see how things are in a few weeks when he's got a bit more school work to do.

So mid-July, Lane and I took an early 15 yr wedding anniversary trip to Riviera Maya, Mexico.  We stayed at a very nice all-inclusive adults-only resort.  It was pure relaxation.  Most mornings we woke up between 9 and 10.  And most mornings we skipped breakfast and went straight down to the pool.  I often started the day with the non-alcoholic beverage of the day.  Of course it wasn't long after that I'd move on to a pina colada or some other fruity beverage with alcohol.  At some point we'd wander to one of the restaurants at the resort and have lunch.  Then it was back to the pool.  Lane and I would hang out at the pool until about 5ish and then head back to the room to get ready for dinner.  It was humid enough while we were there that the majority of the time I actually wore my hair curly.  So in the photos I will post you will actually see my curly hair.

Some of the restaurants at the resort were really good.  Others I wasn't too impressed by but the food was edible.  Our favorite was the Japanese restaurant.  We ate dinner their twice.  Usually we'd have to wait for a table so they give out pagers that work to my knowledge all over the resort but we'd sit at the martini bar and sip cocktails until our table was ready.  I found a love of lemon drop martinis and both Lane and I found that we like gin martinis as well.  Every night the resort had entertainment of some sort as well.  A show, a band, etc.


Some of the interesting parts of the trip were seeing an interesting naked guy standing on his balcony at the resort next door while we were eating lunch one day.  Another highlight was that the resort gift shop actually sold Via.gra.  I guess in Mexico you don't need a prescription for it.  And a waiter that looked like he could've been Obama's twin brother.  Lane and I actually joked that being a waiter was Obama's real job.  He was just moonlighting as the president.

We loved every bit of our vacation.  We relaxed, we got to catch up on some sleep.  I can't wait to do it again.  Enjoy the photos!

 Super big lizard on the sidewalk across from our balcony.  His tail must have been close to 18 inches long.

 Pool view from our balcony.  There were tons of pools to choose from.

 On the left is a gin martini and on the right is my lemon drop martini.

 See, I have curly hair.

 Drinks poolside.  We kept them coming all day!  Loved it!

 Cool fountain they had on the grounds.

 President O.bama doing his real job.  

 Tequila shots the last day before we took the shuttle to the airport.  It was very yummy!  Should've had another one!

And finally, the Via.gra in the gift shop.  

15 Years Ago Today...

Lane and I exchanged vows in a chapel in Las Vegas.  The elopement wasn't completely planned.  It happened when I found out my insurance company would not pay for the heart surgery I needed.  We were engaged to be married and planned on getting married in May of 1997.  My health wasn't exactly where we wanted it to be and knew that surgery was necessary.  So sometime in July, Lane and I decided my health was more important and his insurance plan would cover me.  So we semi-quietly got married.  Our immediate family knew and a few close friends but not anyone else.  We had the wedding we still wanted to have in May as planned.

It's still hard to believe that after only knowing Lane for 8 1/2 months, I married him.  We met at a wedding in December of 1995 and started dating in February.  He proposed in June and we got married in August.  Lane and I dated long-distance our entire relationship.  I'm one of those few people that can say, "He proposed on our 3rd date."  Lane is one of the best things that has happened to me and has a person with a serious CHD, he has been the rock I've needed through all the ups and downs of this disease.  My parents were good supporters when I was younger, but as I got older, I think they felt as though they still had to protect me like they did when I was a child.  Parents of CHD patients are always so fearful when it comes to their special kids.  With Lane, at the age of 27, I rode my first roller coaster.  My parents would've never allowed me to.  Even after I told my mom what I did and how much I loved it I got a lecture.  Lane has let me decide what I want to do unless of course he thinks it's a serious danger.  Unfortunately my roller coaster days ended 5 yrs ago when I had my ICD placed.  I'm still bitter about that.

Fifteen years passes in the blink of an eye.  There is no better person for me to spend those 15 yrs with than Lane.  I am truly a blessed woman to have such a wonderful man willing to take care of me when I'm at my worst.  Someone who time and time again has held my hand as I'm a tangle of wires and IV's and have a breathing tube down my throat.  He has put up with my OCD ways and my craziness.  He even loves me when I'm angry with him.  And I love him for all that he is, all that he has, and all that he has sacrificed for me.  Love you Lane!  Happy Anniversary!

Pool Playdate (from June)

Back in June, just about a week before life was turned upside down by Lane's retirement and our move, we had to have one more friendly playdate with Miss Bri.  Oh, how we miss her and her mom!  We headed over to their awesome pool and spend a very hot afternoon trying to keep cool.  Eriks was off on his own jumping over and over into the deep end.  Bri and Emi stayed in the shallower end while Lisa and I had some adult conversation.

It was such a great way to close our time in Georgia with friends like them.  I know Eriks misses Miss Bri because she was his first friend there.  Hopefully we'll be able to convince them to come for a visit some time so I can show them some Hoosier hospitality.

Lane's Retirement

So much for being on top of things.  We've been in our house a month and we are still trying to get the last few boxes unpacked and things situated right where we want them.  Parts of the house are still being painted so it makes it a little difficult too.  School starts for Eriks everyone but me in a few weeks.  It would be nice to have everything done by then.

Lane had a very nice retirement ceremony even though it was lightly attended because it ended up falling on the Friday that Lock*heed employees have off and the crew of guys he worked with were out of town doing mandatory training.  Still it wasn't a horrible turn out but had the other stuff not been going on there would've been a heck of a lot more people.

The night before his retirement ceremony I cried - a lot.  Lane was trying on his uniform to make sure everything was in place where it should be and it hit me that the day of his retirement would be the last time I would see him wear it.  Everyone who knows me well (and I'm sure I've said it before), knows I have a love/hate relationship with the military.  But when you've been with someone for 3/4 of his career and put up with all the ups and downs, the day they retire is bittersweet.  I was thankful that he was no longer having to take orders and that he could do as he pleased.  I didn't have to worry that the military would tell us, "Hey by the way, we're moving you to Timbuktu tomorrow."  But I was sad about all that too.  You grow accustomed to it.  It becomes second nature to know that you have no control over your life and where you live.

Lane's entire family came to town for his retirement.  It meant so much that his parents and siblings were there.  My mom & dad made the journey from Indiana to be with us.  I was sad that my siblings couldn't make it but my sister had to travel for work and my brother also was working.  They were there in spirit.

The day of the ceremony we had cake & refreshments.  The following evening we had a dinner for our family, close friends and several of the people Lane worked with closely.  We all had a really good time.  Part of me didn't want the weekend to end.  Lane still isn't officially retired.  That doesn't happen until Sept 1st but he had about 60 days worth of vacation/permissive leave from the military that he took in order for us to have time to get settled in Indiana.  It's kind of nice that he's been on paid vacation for just over a month and has 3 1/2 weeks to go.

I don't have the official photos of his retirement.  Just a few that I took with my camera.