Back in the good ol' midwest

Our nomadic clan has ventured back to the midwest from Florida...for now anyway. John has 2 rotations, so we are staying in STL. I am able to work, which is a great feeling! Gma Cathy, Gpa Walt, and Aunt Karen have been helping us with Gavin so that I can work in the evenings if John is stuck at the hospital.

I've been enjoying the familiar things from home. Gus's Pretzels, White Castle, Frances Pizza, and hamburger horseshoes. It is neat to see the leaves turning colors again and to feel that cool, crisp air in the morning. We should be getting out of here just in time....before it gets too cold. Poor Gav has never had to endure a midwest winter! It seems like this may be the last time we get to be in warm weather during the winter months. John should wrap up school in the spring and we'll settle down close to home. It all depends on that residency placement though. It is a stressful time for him.

Sunshine is my therapy

It is so nice to have sun again. Today we took 2 walks and a long afternoon swim. By the time dinner rolled around, it was thundering again and the storm was coming in. John got home a little earlier than usual, so we all got to go to the pool. It was fun- Gavin loves jumping in from the side now into his daddy's arms. I swear, he is a little fish. He loves the water. It was a nice distraction for him today because he has another tooth coming in and it has been bothering him. Poor guy- that has to be so painful. He drools like crazy and just isn't himself.

So, my dumb moment of the day. During our walk, I passed two teenage boys. I realized that one of them was the son of one of our friends here. I asked how he was- he said he was getting ready to go to New York. I said, "ooh, I bet you will enjoy that wedder." I meant to say "weather", but I couldn't say it. I tried again and it still came out wedder. I don't know what happened to my speech skills. They both laughed and I did to, but I still don't know what that was all about.

Go away Ms. Fay

I thought our experience with hurricanes was left behind with our days on Cayman. But I was wrong. Tropical Storm Fay came in and lingered over us for days. I don't mind a rainy day here and there, but this was another instance of rain for days on end. Having grown up in the Midwest, I thought the course of hurricanes was different. I figured that a big storm came through and then everything settled back down. But, these storms come in with a vengeance and then what follows is rain, flooding, wind, tornadoes, etc... for days and days. I know myself enough to know that I could not live somewhere like Seattle that sees a lot of rain and cloudy days.

Once the winds settled down, Gav and I went outside and played like fools in the rain. We had so much fun. Splashed in the puddles and got drenched in the downpour. Today the sun was shining for awhile. It was the greatest feeling ever to not have to have lights on during the day and to get out for our morning walk (and not get soaked).

PCB

Aunt Sarah left today after staying with us for the past 12 days. She is such a cool girl and we are lucky to have her in the family. But, before I post about Sarah's awesomeness, I gotta talk about our trip to Panama City Beach. This past week we drove to Panama City for a 4 day "getaway" from Orlando. Sarah's family was staying there for a week, so we decided to head north for a little vacay. We had such high hopes of having fun. The beach, 2 big pools at the hotel, other little kids for Gav to play with, and a one bedroom condo with a kitchen! WE didn't realize, however, that we were in for it. Everything went wrong! We arrived on Monday afternoon after a 6 hour drive and went straight to the pool. By the time we checked into our room, unpacked, got Gavin situated, and ate dinner we were exhausted. We noticed that our room seemed a bit "dated", but we were too tired to care.

The next morning we realized that our room was awful. I opened the sliding glass door to our balcony and then it would not close. Sat down in the recliner and then it wouldn't un-recline. Pulled out the pull-out couch, sat down and got STUCK in the mattress/frame and couldn't get up. It left a permanent butt print. Pulled a cabinet door off in the kitchen. Everything we touched broke! The furniture was yuck and way old. Luckily we were able to change to a much better room that day. Oh, and had the neighbor from hell. A drunken mom who locked her own children out of the room and passed out- so they banged on the door forEVER trying to get in. I almost beat her up. Was so annoyed.

Next day Gavin's eyes were swollen shut and it looked like pink eye. Luckily Sarah's cousin is a doc and we were able to get meds asap. That night bad storms came through and tornadoes hit down on parts of the beach. The next day we were trying to be optimistic as we took our morning stroll. We noticed birds on the lawn and pointed them out to Gavin. Then we noticed they were eating piles of bright red puke...obviously from someone who had a little too much to drink. We were in the Redneck Riviera. Not sure what has happened to PCB, but the "clientele" has deteriorated. Tattoos, piercings, mullets, cigarettes, and trashiness in general swamped the place. Luckily I was with Sarah, who is one of the funniest people in the world. We were able to laugh it all off and now have good stories to share at family events. BUT....it was not quite what we were hoping for.

Gavin did pretty well on the beach, although he still tries to rub his eyes with sand on his hands. He loved watching the ocean waves. It mesmerized him.

Hi Zoe!

We're back in Florida after a long vacay in the midwest. Gav and I spent a couple weeks back home visiting everyone. Sadly, while we were there, Grandma Ann Paruch passed away after living more than 90 years. We miss her and it will be difficult to adjust to family get-togethers without her being with us.

John is in his final month of being a north-easterner. We really miss him and I am counting down the days until we are all together again. My mom is here with us now and is the biggest life saver EVER. Gav and I got sick the day before we flew back and poor mom has been spending her vacation taking care of us! But, there is no one better to be around when you are sick than your mama.

Gma Jo to the rescue!

Thank goodness for Grandma Jo. As soon as she heard that Gav and I would be on our own for awhile, she booked her flight to Florida to come stay with us. She came two days after John had to leave and the timing was perfect. We were sad- missing daddy and not knowing what to do with ourselves! She lifted our spirits and we had a lot of fun.

Ms. Florida

Do you like our hats? Karen bought these for us at the Cards game.

I am a professional tourist in the land of Florida. After several weeks of visitors, I think I am a seasoned veteran of Disney and such. Karen and Jordan (who are now happily engaged to be married) spent a week with us and we had a lot of fun. Went to a game in Jupiter and also spent a day at Sea World. We took Jordan to the Cubs restaurant here (Kerri, you would love it). Jordan treated us to dinner and it was great.....how couldn't it be? It started out with huge long island iced teas as the drink special!

My favorite part of their trip was when Karen asked me to be her matron of honor. I am SO honored and excited about it.