Much Needed Vacation!

Dave and I just returned from an incredible 8 day vacation without the kids.  We went on a dive trip to Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands with a group of great friends and then we stopped back through Florida for the wedding of Dave's cousin Dan in Palm Beach.

We have never left both kids for so long and my parents were on full time duty with Dave's parents in Florida  visiting Molly, Brian and Lucy.  I was feeling very anxious about leaving, the toll it would take on my parents and about how Samantha and Carina would do being apart from us for so long.

It was a long travel day getting to the resort but once we had some time to settle in, we had the best time.  I had forgotten how much I enjoy scuba diving and it was great to have time alone with Dave to remember why we like each other so much.  After morning dives, we lay on the beach, floated in the water, enjoyed fruity rum drinks, read and laughed with our friends.  It was one of those vacations that I didn't realize until we were doing it, how much I needed it.

And, of course the girls did great and my mom (and even my dad and sister too) were rock stars with the kids.  Carina went to her own class at Sammy's school during the week which she absolutely loved.  I was a bit nervous on one of our last days as Sammy gave us the cold shoulder and looked away during our Skype conversation, but I think her birthday served as the perfect distraction to any animosity she had when we got home.  Everyone survived just fine - remind me to do it more often! 

Officially Four

As I put Samantha to bed last night we discussed her birthday and she asked me if tomorrow was going to be her birthday "officially".  To which I replied yes.  So, happy official birthday to my sweet Samantha.

I have been describing Samantha lately as a four year old in a 65 year old mind.  She talks in a proper way with a truly impressive vocabulary.  She is extremely nurturing and often worried about her friends at school and always about her baby sister that they are being a little too reckless. She is extremely focused and in her ballet class, at school or at pottery is always the most attentive to teachers and excels at following rules.  She has a heart of gold and I am often taken aback by her genuine concern for others, her sweet disposition and her incredible manners.

For some time she has been requesting a pedal bike for her birthday. She is an impressive Strider but she was ready to move on to greater things.  She was delighted to see her purple and pink (her very favorite colors), princess, pedal bike.  And, of course she chose to wear a princess dress and crown for her birthday day.  We are celebrating with the train in the park with a big party this Friday.  Happy birthday to my sweet, kind, incredibly smart and beautiful Sammy Lee.  We are so proud to be your parents!

Closer to Fine

Sunday night I went to the Indigo Girls concert at Chautauqua auditorium.  It is a rustic, intimate venue and is historic Boulder which I love.  I went with two friends that went to law school with Dave and before the concert, we enjoyed a beautiful evening on the lawn with a picnic dinner with wine. 

Indigo Girls always make me think of my best friend Ryan, she and I were obsessed with the Indigo Girls in college.  We spent many a night smoking cigarettes, writing poetry and listening to emotional music about life and mapping out our astrological charts.  When I listen to their music I feel 19 again and have a strange feeling of wanting to laugh hysterically and cry at the same time.

As a Christmas gift in 1997, Ryan got us both tickets to see the Indigo Girls.  Unfortunately about an hour before we were set to leave, Ryan was unable to find the tickets.  We literally ripped apart the entire house we lived in and Ryan was sobbing.  We even went to the music store to try and repurchase the tickets but it was sold out.  To make up for our heart ache over the lost tickets, we got tickets to the Lilith Fair that summer to see Indigo Girls along with other “all women” shows which prompted my Dad to have a very awkward conversation about whether or not I was a lesbian.  With all the time I spent with Ryan, my tongue piercing and affinity for the Indigo Girls, his coworker deemed me as a “definite lesbian”.

I think my favorite Indigo Girls song is The Wood and I was so happy to hear them play it on Sunday.  It seems to have summed up not only my college years but the last few years as well.  The end of the song says:

And even I have got to laugh at me

No one gets to miss the storm of what will be

Just holding on for the ride

The wood is tired and the wood is old

We'll make it fine if the weather holds

But if the weather holds we'll have missed the point

And, that's where I need to go…

Changing the Tide

I'll admit I was feeling nervous as this week approached.  This is the dreaded week of the year for me and was an especially hard one for me last year as I got laid off from my job. Rather than getting horrible news this year, I found out that I was promoted at work. Yay!

My new job has been a blessing in more ways than I can explain.  I have an incredible group of friends now that I didn't have last year. I have been given a purpose to build and grow a business and marketing group that I frankly wasn't aware existed or was possible for me.

My blog is certainly suffering because I'm so busy with work.  I consistently think about giving up this blog but want to do my best to keep it alive for another year.  Just know that things with the Brantz Family and babies are well.  Better than ever, in fact.

Dinner Club - Our Turn

Dinner club had taken a bit of a hiatus but we brought it back on Saturday at our house.  We prepared a Mexican fiesta complete with homemade salsa, guacamole, tortilla soup, chicken enchiladas, black bean salad, spanish rice and tres leches cake.  If I do say so myself, it was delicious and it was so fun to get the group back together.  We had our guys vs. girls charades face off once again and the ladies won, second year in a row.