I realized this morning that some of you might not know about Tanner's upcoming trip to Qatar.  I guess in the chaos of things that I term "life", I forgot about mentioning it here.

This trip to Qatar is actually one of the reason why our lives up until this semester have been so extremely stressful and hectic.  Tanner has been pushing to take Plant Design from the professor that orginally counselled us to not be afraid to pursue a ChemE degree from Texas A&M.  This professor, Dr. Baldwin, was become a friend and mentor to our family.  This is also the last year he will be teaching at A&M.  We've known this for some time, so we've packed Tanner's schedule with every pre-requisite to this class.

One of the options for this class is to volunteer for a foreign collaboration project with the A&M school in Doha, Qatar which after a great deal of prayer, Tanner decided to apply.  Lo and behold, he was accepted and has been steadily working toward designing a plant with a team of students based in Doha.  They visited College Station the week before term started, and the College Station team will be visiting their campus during Spring Break.

Yes, this means that I will once again be performing duties of single-mom, but never-fear, I have a faithful sidekick called Jonathan and a wonderful babysitter who filled in for the first part of last summer before Emily arrived.

For most people this would simply be a culturarl experience trip, but Tanner and I know that for him, this trip will mean quite a bit more.  After all, why visit a country without bringing good news?  Because of this, we are very much aware that we have been suffering just a wee bit of warfare.  This has given us ample opportunity to talk to the girls about suffering, and has also given us plenty of opportunity to ask for forgiveness when we fall flat on our faces.

We are blessed to have so much support from bretheren here in C.S. that criss-crosses denominational lines with chaotic abandon.  We have Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, Evangelicals, Calvinists and a host of non-denominatiolists all lending their aide.  It is an amazing thing to witness, and proves that we are universally bound together with blood-ties so rich and deep that we when we finally get to see God's great creation, our differences will be silenced.

May your prayers be received with favor before God.

Wheels

We've been learning a new dance for this semester.  It is called One Set of Wheels.  Our faithful, maroon colored car spends a lot of time driving between parking lots it seems.  We're lucky that all of us work relatively close to each other.  Jonathan works a  half a mile from our house and about the same from where I work.  Tanner goes to school about a mile from my office, so between the three of us, two bikes and a car we manage an intricate dance of schedules.

We have occasional missteps.  Like the time Jonathan forgot to pick up Georgianna, or the time two girls were sick on a day that absolutely NO one could take off of work (they ended up sleeping in the cafeteria at my office), or the time that Tanner forgot that he had classes.  So far, we've successfully rolled with the mishaps, and no one has crashed and burned.

A typical Monday sees Tanner dropping off the girls while I bike to work.  Then he swings by my work, drops off the car, grabs the bike and goes to school.  Jonathan (who usually bikes to work at about 5:00am) then walks to my work to pick up the car.  He then picks up Georgianna, Kate and Reagan.  They come to my office when I get off of work.  I take the car home, finish making the dinner that Jonathan started and then I get ready to teach (from 5:30 to 8:00) while Jonathan walks back to his work, gets his bike and rides off into the blue yonder.  Tanner bikes home if he gets out of evening classes early enough.  If not, then he calls me, and I pack the girls into the car after I finish teaching, and we go to pick Tanner up.

As you can see, this requires that we all not forget where we are suppose to go.  We've had a couple of Mondays that see me running/walking home so that I can get there in time to teach my first lesson (1.5 miles in less than 30 minutes requires a bit of jogging).  We've also had a few Mondays where Jonathan has wandered into my office wondering where the car is.  Luckily, my bike has been there and I have an extra set of keys, so he was able to bike to the car, lock up the bike and still pick up the girls.

The week does get easier as long as you count as a positive the fact that on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have to bike to work and back home because nobody can pick me up because Tanner has classes at 5:20, Jonathan works at 5:25, and I teach lessons from 5:30 to 8:00.  Yup, that's an easy day.  At least the car just goes back and forth between home, school and A&M.

All this crazy wheel turning is making me wish I had a moped, but that won't fit 3 children, will it?

Bikes, cars and mopeds

I'm surprised that most people don't consider A&M to have  "diversified" campus.  I wonder if they've ever visited the campus, because trust me we are diviersified. 

Just look at the car park.  We have BMW's both black and white.  There are rows of Mercedes in tan and gray.  We've got Harleys (mainly black, but some are definitely mixed color).  We've got mopeds imported from Japan and Italy.  With names like Suzuki and Vespa, it's obvious that our reach is worldwide.  And then we have bikes.  We've got road bikes, leisure bikes, touring bikes, mountain bikes and dirt bikes.  Of course they tend to have names like Schwinn, but still, it adds to our diversity. Plus we've got hybrid bikes as well, some of them have basket carriers and trailer attached to them which indicates a more domesticated rider.

So, all in all, I think A&M is very diversified, representing all sorts of nationalities, ethnic backgrounds and cultures.  Just take a look at the car park.

Run, baby, run...

I often wonder if people set out to be runners, or if they often, like me, just happen to fall into the habbit.  I could blame a lot of things, people and/or events for this obsession, but the truth of the matter is that I was chatting with a friend who wanted to run something called a 5k.  She asked me to run it with her.  I said, "sure as long as you don't mind me hobbling along because I am NOT a runner."

One smart phone, two 5k traing apps and four 5k's later, I'm still pretty sure I'm NOT a runner.  Granted I've figured out how to run a mile without stopping.  If you consider that I've never, ever done that, not even in my ultra-pre-child-uber-skinny years, then running a whole mile is pretty momentous.  The fact that I often run two miles without stopping is also mind staggering to me.  I express no confidence in ever being able to run something akin to a marathon, but I don't mind aiming for 6 or 7 miles.

Those types of thoughts make me wonder if I've suddenly turned into a runner.  The fact that I find running humor funny also makes me apprehensive that I might be crossing the line from normal human being to crazed fanatical running unit.  Other proof that I might be crossing the normalcy line is the fact that I want everyone to join me.  I'm looking for a family fun run so that the girls can run with me.  I'm impatiently waiting for summer so that Tanner can start training.  I try to convince non-runners and never-have-run to try it, just for little while...pleeeeeeaaaaassssseeee!

I wish I had discovered the running bug earlier in my life.  I regret missing out on all of the runs that I could have done.  Then I settle down and remind myself that I am NOT a runner.  I'm just a normal, human that likes to pound a little pavement and considers a short 1 mile run a warm up to a serious workout.

This morning I woke up to fair weather and the promise of sunny, spring-like conditions.  I packed the kids off to school with daddy and proceeded to get ready for the day.  I decided to wait on applying makeup since I was going to walk the 1.5 miles to work.  I had left my bike at work the night before, so walking was my only alternative.  Let's just say that it was good thing I wasn't wearing any mascara.

Why?  because it started to rain.  It was a good old fashion southern rainstorm.  The type that flashfloods and massive traffic pile-ups are made of.  The type that remind you that you do live on the Gulf of Mexico and hurricanes are a fact of life.  I shuffled my very wet and miserable way to work before realizing (after I had been walking for about 10 minutes) that I had left my phone at home.  Let's just say that I was a very wet bookkeeper by the time I toddled in to work.  Luckily, the rain is rarely cold and the humidity keeps the wind from chilling the skin.

At least my rain gear was at the office, so I can hope for a comfortable ride home tonight.

So, I'm sitting here at work, much drier than I was this morning and thinking of all the crazy things that we did this past week.

Kate celebrated her 9th birthday.  I can not believe my baby has been with me for 9 years.  I remember being 9 and loving trees and reading.  I would often combine both of them by climbing a tree while clutching a book and then sitting a big branch while ants crawled alongside.  I was lucky because my best friend loved books, too,  not so much the trees.  When we played together it was to climb a tree and read.

Tanner wasn't able to attend Kate's birthday party because he had a lot of homework to do.  As a matter of fact he spent Saturday morning with the kids and then disappeared for the weekend.  He did go to church with us, but left right after the service ended.  I sigh a little.  Even though I knew this semester was going to be hard it is still difficult to accept that this is only the third week of this semester, and he has already pulled three all-nighters.  I'm starting to think I'm lucky if I wake up in the morning and find him fully clothed and sleeping on top of all the covers.

He still makes time for my running schedule which is why he stayed home Saturday morning.  I ran a 5k in Huntsville, Texas at Sam Houston Univerity about 45 minutes north of Houston.  It's a hilly part of Texas that I've never visited and proves that Texas is not a flat wasteland.  My legs are still protesting.  He is also going to take time out next Saturday to go to Houston.  I've got a color-run scheduled and maybe we'll take a little mini-break and go to the zoo afterwards.  Even if it's raining at least it will be warm.

Another Semester Starts!

And we're off to a roaring start this semester.  Tanner is taking 15 credit hours which include Physical Chemistry (referred to as p-chem), Plant Design (including a trip to Doha, Quatar), Safety Engineering, Unit Ops and Bio-Engineering.  Yuk.  I don't even know what some of those terms mean.  It looks like it's going to be a full 18 weeks, and I'm fully expecting my husband to drop off the radar and occasionally resurface for food and once in a while some sleep.

Speaking of food and sleep...we managed to put together over 70 meals last weekend.  I still have about 30 to go in order to have all of our dinners covered for the semester, but it was certainly nice to have such a large chunk taken care of.  We made teriyaki, Thai peanut, barbecue and Italian seasoned chicken, as well as twenty trays of macaroni and cheese.  Oh, just writing about it makes me hungry!

Texan weather, as always, is super sporadic.  We had a high of 75F yesterday, and today it 32F in the morning.  I tried to go running before work, but only made it 1/2 a mile before turning around and running back home. I was too cold, and I lack a lot of the cold weather gear that most Oregonians take for granted: like parka's or ear-warmers or sock-hats.  Of course, I love the crisp cool mornings, they are a welcome relief after the blistering hot summer, but the huge swings in temperature are difficult to manage.

Kate and Reagan are forging ahead with school and Girl Scouts.  We start the cookie selling season on Wednesday, so if you want some...I expect a visit between now and February 22nd.  Those girls make me so proud.  They are both known for their academic excellence, but even better, the teachers love their attitudes.  I am always super delighted to hear the great reports about their behavior and the trust that their teachers have for them.  As always, we continually pray for their saftey and their walk before God.

Most of you heard about Kate's adventures with driving...if you haven't, that might be a good reason to say hello to me.  Reagan emphatically declares that she will NEVER do something like that which only serves to make me apprehensive about the things that she WILL do.

Of course, Georgianna is proving to be her usual adorable self with lots of cuddles and snuggles and still very short hair.  I keep wondering if it will every grow back.  She is a girly-girl with a tough streak, something I find quite common int Texas.  She has the strongest Southern accent out of all the girls, and every once in a while I try to correct it, but truthfully, it is so cute, I usually let it slide.  My favorite phrase?  "Mamma, when (please imagine the drawl on that word) are we goin' to Suhndeh Schooo-el?"

If the kids are busy, it means I've been staying busy.  I'm working on my first 10k in a couple of weeks, being a scout leader, working full time, teaching violin 4 days a week in the evenings, organizing birthday parties (which thankfully are non-existent after the 27th) and trying to keep the housework under control.  I consider it all in the line of duty with copious amounts of coffee.

Life goes on...

We've had a tough ending to summer and a difficult beginning of the school year.  The shooting of a police officer in College Station has hurt the entire community.  I know, having lived in a big city, that officers of the peace aren't held in high regard, but here in College Station, they are our friends and our protectors.  They are the person standing next to you in the check out line.  They are the husband of the kindergarten teacher, the father of your child's best friend, cousin of the lifeguard at the pool, mother of the girl selling cookies. Our entire community is still mourning.

It's an interesting experience for a big city girl.  I've never experienced this type of communal grieving.  Perfectly normal people have set up fundraising events for the victims of the shooting and the Bachmann family. Perfectly normal businesses contribute to the cause without asking for anything in return.  Children set up lemonade stands and give all the money they earn, and trust me, nobody stops them.  They aren't told to that they need permits or licensing.  This type of love and help convinces me that "big city" America has lost touch with some of the basic values that small town America still has a firm grasp on, and it almost convinces me to never, ever live in a city again.  Wow...did I just say that?  What a scary thought!  I'm not sure if I could live without opera, ballet and art museums.  Like I said...almost.  I think it's sad that we have to exchange values for conveniences.

Our van is decidedly on its last legs.  I think the accident that we had at the beginning of the summer had something to do with it, so I am officially a biker.  Not a cool one sorry to say.  I've got a rusty, mountain bike that I ride to and from work every day.  I've got to take it easy in the evenings when I come home because it's about 100F, so I make sure I pack a couple bottles of water just in case.  So far, it hasn't been too difficult.  The only thing I complain about is the uphill ride home, but then, I'm really glad that I don't have the uphill ride to work.  Who wants to arrive at work all sweaty and sticky?  I'm lucky because work is only 3 miles from home which is a reasonable biking distance with only a few minor uphill swings.  I figure it's God's way of helping me get back into shape!

What's amazing is that Tanner's school schedule worked out really well this semester.  He has classes from 9:00 until 1:00 which works perfect for a single car family.  He takes the girls to school in the morning and picks them up in the afternoon, throws a casserole in the oven and dinner is ready when I get home.  I gobble it up quickly and then start teaching violin while the girls clean the kitchen.  Tanner usually leaves around that time to start his evening study session while I put the girls down.  Then I do my schoolwork, quizzes, tests, reports, etc.. after they are in bed.  Whoop!  What's really nice about all of this, is that I have time to go running in the mornings since I don't have to take the girls to school, so my 5k training is going pretty well.  I am panicking because it's coming up really soon, but I'll get there.

The only thing I can't figure out how to fit in to the daily routine is laundry.  My laundry genie left at the end of August, so now, my clothes to magically appear in my drawers all clean and neatly folded.  I really need to get me another one of those!