{ a swoop and a dart }

Any MAY a Beautiful Change (Reminder)

Don't forget that Any MAY a Beautiful Change is going on to celebrate the release of Katherine's book, Any Day a Beautiful Change (Chalice Press, 2012). You can read all the inspiring entries linked on her blog, and find mine here. Consider yourself invited to write about your own beautiful change, too!

The Biggest Birthday Surprise Ever

About a year ago, my oldest friend Nancy (who is right now saying "I'M EIGHT MONTHS YOUNGER!!") hatched the most unbelievably improbable plan of all time. The kind of plan in which you say "oh, that would be so much fun, but you must be crazy to think we could ever pull that off." The kind of plan that, because of its sheer and utter impossibility, makes it almost... tempting. And when something becomes tempting because of its potential for being the most unlikely thing ever, it sticks with you.

The plan: surprise Molly (turning 11 in May 2012) and Maddie (turning 10 in May 2012) with a trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida. If you've spent even a week in the Dillow house, you know that planning things more than a month in advance is nigh on impossible. And yet.

Here's the thing: like their mamas, Molly and Maddie have been friends from the beginning:

too lazy to scan, sorry

They met when Maddie was about 7 weeks old. Unlike their mamas (or grandmas, who have been friends since the 1960s), they've never lived in the same town. But that hasn't stopped them from being friends:

And so on. I need to round up all the Molly + Maddie photos; there are many.

So in February, after much hand-wringing with Matt about logistics and expense and practicality and doing-things-out-of-character, we committed to the biggest birthday surprise ever. It nearly did us both in to keep it a secret. 

With the help of Suzanne (who sent me supplies from a previous trip) I made up a little postcard to deliver to Maddie by hand at 5:45 am on Friday morning. The gist: get up and get dressed, we're taking a trip. It took five minutes to a.) wake Maddie up fully to the point of coherency and b.) convince her that I don't normally appear in her room dressed and ready to go places at 5:45 am, so get moving. To say she was excited once she finally woke up would be an understatement. And then to find out that we were meeting Mrs. Marquette and Molly? Priceless.

6:15 am Friday, just before heading out

at Orlando International Airport, 6:30 pm

Best. Surprise. Ever.

And then of course, we spent two days at Islands of Adventure where the Wizarding World of Harry Potter exists. For two Harry Potter-loving girls and their equally Harry Potter-loving mamas, walking into Hogsmeade for the first time was like every reader's greatest dream come true. I, ahem, took a lot of pictures.*  I'll only share a sliver here:

I took a lot of pictures of the roofline because I was just so taken by it. As in, I'm looking at my pictures thinking "why did I take the same picture so many times?" Because every time we walked past I apparently was compelled to get every single angle. : )

There was a 40% chance of torrential rain in the afternoons while we were there, but instead it just shined and shined and shined through blue skies the entire trip.

The storefront windows had all sorts of great details; in this one, you could hear the shrieks of mandrakes.

Heh.

A top three highlight of the trip: both Maddie and Molly got chosen at Ollivander's to be matched with special wands. We had coached the girls about not being upset after a long wait to get in if neither of them were picked, and then again if one of them was picked that the other would only be happy for her, and then in a twist of the unheard of, they were both chosen. We couldn't believe it.

Maddie was excited to peek at Bellatrix Lestrange's wand at Ollivander's.

Thanks again to Suzanne's advice, we knew that you could take a walking tour of the castle without standing in line.

The paintings were alive! You can't tell that from this photo, but in fact, they were.

We were in the right place at the right time more than once: here, for a small ensemble of the Hogwarts chorus (complete with beatboxing toads)

Maddie loved the restrooms because you could hear Moaning Myrtle inside. I did not take photos inside the restrooms, not to worry, but I did take a picture of the sign : )

Bertie Botts! And yes, she accidentally ate a vomit one in the hotel room Sunday night. BLECH!

Another right place/right time moment: the girls of Beaubaton's danced in the square

The Saturday conductor of the Hogwarts Express

I switched back and forth between real camera and phone camera with glee, capturing as many details as possible while we waited places. Though really, we only had one excruciating wait for the big Forbidden Journey ride; we rode it a total of four times, the Dragon Challenge four times, the Flight of the Hippogriff (lost count of how many times), and we really only waited just that first time. Granted, we waited for nearly 75 minutes in very very very hot and humid sunshine, but it was worth it.

My only complaint: that only some of the storefronts had actual shops behind them, because I wanted to go in and study every single detail of every single shop—but really, that's a small complaint. It was just so fun to look at everything.

This might be one of my favorite photos: Maddie tasting butterbeer for the first time. It really was that good. And The Three Broomsticks was probably one of my favorite parts; we ate inside for lunch on Saturday and sat on the back little nook for lunch on Sunday.

We did actually venture out of Hogsmeade in the afternoons before going back in the evening; mostly to hit water rides and check out a few other areas of the park.

There was also a lot of swimming each evening and then again on Monday morning. Maddie and I were supposed to have been visiting my grandma an hour and a half away on Monday, but I think she would have approved of the two extra hours Maddie and I spent in the pool together after Molly and Nancy had to head back to the airport (our flight was later). She believed in fun whenever one came upon a hotel pool, after all.

Other highlights:

+ When a lady came up to us on Saturday evening and handed us her fast-pass ticket for The Forbidden Journey after telling us she'd been scouting for some nice people to give it to

+ Riding the Dragon Challenge with Maddie four times—what fun to share such a cool experience with her

+ Strawberry-peanut butter ice cream from The Three Broomsticks and pumpkin juice from a streetcart

+ Not having to rush anywhere

+ hiring a car from Mears Transportation to get us from the airport to the hotel and back again (it wasn't that much more expensive than a cab, but totally and completely worth every single penny for the peace of mind and the little sign our driver held up with my name on it, ha)(Totally a case of country mouse visiting the city, that)

+ Spending time with Nancy

+ Convincing Maddie to get the little journal I made for their travel mini-albums signed by the Sunday conductor of the Hogwarts Express; he not only obliged, he obliged with style

+ The shops, the shops, the shops

+ picking out a few treats from Honeydukes, Zonko's, and The Owlery to bring home

+ teaching Maddie all the summer pool tricks: handstands, front somersaults, underwater swimming, etc.

We arrived home tired and happy. As you might imagine, Gracie is already actively planning her 10th birthday surprise trip—only 2.5 years away.

: )

 

 

*I did a great deal of hand-wringing about whether or not to lug my regular camera with me; I consulted Tracey Clark who said I would kick myself if I didn't, and she was 110% right on that count. Whew.

Any Day a Beautiful Change book winners

I decided to pull three names instead of one... the lucky numbers are:

Which translates to:

Shannon Montez

Mary Jo Rhoda

Melissa Schuster

You can keep the book for yourself or give it as a gift to anyone you choose! : )

2012 Take Twelve May: Bridget's Birthday Party Edition

For Bridget's birthday party this year I encouraged her to take a break from her greatest love (Disney princesses and princes) as a theme and explore a different angle of fangirl: her love of WordGirl. While Maddie and Gracie watched WordGirl a little here and there when they were Bridget's age, Bridget loves WordGirl; she knows all the villains by name, can describe their particular streak of villainy, and watches with great concentration the way WordGirl defeats them with her superior use of vocabulary (and speed and strength and cunning). She immediately jumped on board, and I set to work coming up with ideas for a WordGirl party. This all happened within the last 10 days, because despite the fact that I gave birth to this child on May 10, I seem to be surprised every single year when May 1 rolls around and I realize her birthday is in but ten days.

While I may be a cake wrecker of epic proportions, I am handy with a computer, so I whipped up some invitations suitable for a bowling birthday:

those are brighter in person—not sure what's up with Typepad tonight

We also decided to do WordGirl-themed favors: personalized bookmarks with WordGirl and Captain Huggy Face, little journals, two pencils, and our own brand of magnetic poetry:

I am handy with a Xyron machine and a magnetic-laminating cartridge, too. I made little cupcake toppers with the WordGirl logo, ordered a t-shirt for Bee to wear on the big day, and called it good until it came time to make the cupcakes. At which point I suddenly realized the following:

MY WORDGIRL BIRTHDAY PARTY WAS SUDDENLY LOOKING VERY MUCH LIKE A COLD WAR COMMUNIST BIRTHDAY PARTY.

Matt began referring to my cupcakes as Viet Cong Cupcakes. Behold, the twelve photos for the Take Twelve Project:

Sigh. : )

1. Viet Cong/Chairman Mao cupcakes

2. Super Bee in her surprise t-shirt

3. When you have a bowling party on base, the birthday girl gets a real bowling pin that her guests get to sign (this was a giant hit)

4. Maddie and her clown bowling shoes—since when did the little baby sweet pea get size 5 feet?

5. Perfect gifts from her friends

6. She looks sweet here, but she is actually a competitive little thing. She reminded Maddie a number of times that she beat her at the gymnastics bowling party last December, and intended to do the same on this day (which she did).

7. Matt in his squadron bowling shirt

8. A spare for Bee! She had the highest score on the left lane.

9.-10. A little bowling center context

11. The guests and the birthday girl yelling "BOWL!"

12. A very happy birthday girl, indeed.

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Don't forget to link up your collages/pages to my post over at The Daily Trumpet for a chance to win this month's sponsor prize: a print copy of Everyday Storyteller, edited by Jennifer Wilson. Still on the fence about participating in the Take Twelve photography challenge? You can start any month of the year—there are no rules : ) Check out the Take Twelve Guided Inspiration Kit over at Ella Publishing Co. for more information!

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A Non-Traditional Eulogy

Maddie, Gracie, and another neighborhood girl from across the circle were riding bikes on Sunday afternoon when they found an injured butterfly in the parking lot where they were navigating their obstacle course. They stopped to check it out and somehow it hopped onto Maddie's hand and stayed there; they walked over and asked if they could build it a little nest to recover in. Sure, I said, a little distracted by putting groceries away and figuring out what to make for dinner.

They worked on building their nest behind the garage for about 45 minutes or so, running back and forth from the yard to behind the garage and back again. Maddie came in to tell me it was finished but I was in the middle of cooking dinner with three burners on and I didn't want to leave the stove unattended, so I told her I'd go look at it later. But then I didn't, because things can get busy around here; Maddie got after me yesterday morning for not looking at their nest yet, and I promised her I would do so after the bus stop when I took Bridget to school. The butterfly had not made it through the night, she said (it turned very cold on Sunday night and Monday morning was wet, cold, and dreary) but that I could still see it. She is a child with a huge heart, and I assured her that she had done the best she could have done for the butterfly.

When I went to see it, I was amazed—it was beautiful. The most perfectly built butterfly nest any children could have built:

So lovely I had to go back in to get my camera to take a picture of it.

About three hours later, I learned that my 93 year old Grandma died. My grandma, the one who used to keep a beach ball in the trunk of her car just in case she and my Grandpa came upon a hotel with a pool on their travels. She loved:

+ my Grandpa, her second husband: married from the end of WWII until his death in 1986

+ knitting and needlepointing: for her family and for Better Homes and Gardens

+ reading: she didn't come to love reading for pleasure until later in life, but she made up for lost time

+ speaking a little Swedish for her granddaughter: I never got tired of hearing her recite what she remembered from relatives when she was little

+ keeping secrets about her occasionally reckless past, and then no doubt giggling to herself inwardly when one occasionally surfaced: Roller Derby, driving her car top speeds through the state of Kansas hither and yon, etc.

+ smoking: decades and decades, until she stopped a few years ago

+ competent people: ones who didn't whine about their circumstances and who did the job that needed to be done

+ making toffee: she saved the boxes that checks come in to fill up with toffee and give as gifts every Christmas

+ making things: a passion she passed along to me

+ cards: especially Canasta, a complicated game she taught me to play when I was little that I can't remember a single rule from now

and butterflies.

She loved butterflies. They were her thing: I grew up knowing that Grandma Rinehart loved butterflies, which led to a lifelong association: see a butterfly, think of Grandma Rinehart. She would have been very proud of her great-granddaughters for tending so carefully the one who died the same day she did.

It's Almost Like Bigfoot, Only Pink

Unless you are Bridget's driver, you probably don't know about her special skill for identifying three kinds of cars: Volkswagen beetles (both modern and old-fashioned, distinguishing with 100% accuracy), PT Cruisers, and Jeeps. There must be 800 Jeeps in this town, too—and she points every single one of them out, taking great pleasure in calling the ones we see every day (GOLD JEEP! in the 20th AF parking lot, JEEP WITH THE WOLF ON THE BACK! parked on Pershing Blvd., etc.) But there is one Jeep she had never managed to see before: the elusive pink Jeep.

I think the rest of us have seen the pink Jeep driving around—I remember the first time I saw it, last year on Dell Range while running errands by myself in the evening—and it was starting to wear on her that she was the only one who hadn't spotted it. A Jeep she hadn't seen! That was PINK!!!! It was a travesty of justice in her four year old brain, because no one could possibly care as much about it as her. And everyone else had already seen it.

Yesterday, after dropping her off from school, I wound around Holliday Park (construction season has begun in earnest here—a year's worth of projects must be completed between the beginning of spring and Frontier Days) which is a route I don't normally go, and I stopped to look at the gaggle of 8 goslings and their parents at the corner of the park (the only phase in which a Canadian Canada goose is adorable) and had to drive down an unfamiliar residential street to get back on my alternate route. That's when I spotted it:

The pink Jeep. Parked. !!!!

When I went back to show Bridget after school yesterday it wasn't there anymore.

But today....

Victory.

Even 4.5 year olds have bucket lists. (Check)

Any MAY a Beautiful Change

It's May 1 and in addition to what that means (we're working on taking it a few days at a time around here) it's also the official online kick-off to launch Katherine's book, Any Day a Beautiful Change. To celebrate, Katherine, Marie and I have invited a whole slew of dear friends/talented writers/bloggers to share personal stories of our own beautiful changes to get you in the memoir-reading mood. I know there are a lot of readers in the world who have given up on memoir (thanks James Fey!) but it's a book like Katherine's—real and honest and heartrending and funny—that represents the best of what personal narrative can offer a reader: a bridge to another life.

If that's not enough, I'll add this: Matt stayed up until 2 am to read the entire thing in one fell swoop. Based on his current capacity to stay awake in the evening hours, that's saying something.

So then, I'll end this introduction by encouraging you to visit this post on Katherine's blog all month long to find stories from strangers and friends alike; all reminders that while we are so different out there in the world, we all share change—sometimes scary, sometimes tentative, sometimes welcome, and depending on our perspective, potentially beautiful.

Would you like to win a copy of her book? Just leave a comment about a beautiful change in your life—or better yet, write about it and let me know you linked your story in Katherine's post. I'll pick a winner on May 10. Already have a copy? Not to worry, I'll send one to a recipient of your choice!

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I can name the date of the change on my horizon, though it has been difficult at times to name it a beautiful one. The date was there before it became mine by geography, by chance, by procedural vote via officials who couldn't have imagined the momentous effect it would have on my life. The date is August 28, 2012, and it is the date on which Bridget, dressed in a brand-new outfit and carrying a pristine new lunchbox inside her purple Lands' End backpack, will walk through the door of our neighborhood elementary school and begin kindergarten.

This baby. The last one. The one who completed our family with her sweetness and sense of humor, good will and general contentedness just to be with us. The one who now gleefully asks me "what will you do without me when I go to kindergarten?" It stops me in my tracks, that question. I simultaneously kind of know the answer and also have absolutely no idea.

When Maddie began kindergarten, I experienced a small amount of panic about my baby—my first born!—getting on the bus for the short ride to a place where I would no longer be privy to every minute of her goings-on. It is an unavoidable truth for us public school families that when school begins, large swaths of life become compartmentalized; where I could name what happened in Maddie's life at 9:42 am or 1:17 pm each and every day prior to that first year of school, now I only had a ballpark guess, supported by stories brought home and parent-teacher conferences—if I asked the right questions. We couldn't have asked for a better experience for Maddie, though, and then again for Gracie, too: kindergarten was truly a garden of wonders, with exciting new skills and stories and activities and experiences occurring every single day.

It's hard not to be excited about that kind of change. I get it, I do—I've been charged with the education of enough kids to know how education is, in and of itself, a beautiful change.

But oh, this one...

Bridget's entry to kindergarten will come with all the mama hand-wringing that the other two came with, even though I know she is ready and it will all turn out OK. She will learn. She will get to sing new songs. She will read. She will write. She will learn to function in a unit that isn't her own, until she makes it so. She is ready.

But here's the thing: Bridget's entry to kindergarten marks the end of an era for me. Obviously. I chose to leave teaching high school kids in 2002 when Maddie was born; it was the best choice for me, for us, and for her; while I fiercely cherish the lifelong ties I made to a whole slew of Montana teenagers and a teeny-tiny handful of ones in Cheyenne, I never looked back with regret. And now, this ten year era is coming to a close. The clock is ticking louder every day as August 28, 2012 approaches. Things will be so, so different.

Everyone wants to know what's next. I am unable to put together an answer, because there are no pat answers. I simulatenously know what my list of things-to-do will look like and have absolutely no idea how I will fill my days without Bee, my trusty assistant and companion. I have aspirations that fit into the "wildly improbable but still, what if" beautiful change category and practical concerns that squarely don't. I am not the same person I was in 2002, and I can't imagine trying to reconcile that person with a life that might not fit any more. Oh, and we're at least two PCS moves away from permanence. Any day a beautiful change.

And so I hold hands with Bee in parking lots and in the line at the post office. I wait to go to the commissary until after I pick her up at preschool. I squeeze every single last sweet moment out of our library Tuesdays. I watch her ride around the circle on her bike away from me, and then I watch her ride back toward me again. I shake my head at my ridiculous struggle with the same old story every mama experiences, and I choke back the feeling in my throat that threatens to shut down both me and my resolve to celebrate what's next for her. I consider what I must do to balance my family's well-being on ten different levels, and I try not to shy away from considering a path not yet blazed in that equation.

This mama stuff? Not for the faint-hearted.

Bee "Mike Tyson" Dillow

Bridget would like you to know that she got herself up on the high beam at gymnastics last night all by herself, and then proceeded to stand up all by herself, too. She got to stamp herself after class as a reward for this achievement, and must have been feeling very tough.

a.) This is an achievement worth celebrating as this child didn't walk until 17 months old and then proceeded to fall down at least three times a day for the next three years. 

b.) My Grandma Watson would not have approved of this picture. Things on my Grandma's "absolutely not" list: Ink on skin, raisins with stems, peach skin, licking frosting off knives, and jagged potato chips. But maybe she would have made an exception for this big moment.

: )

Ten on Wednesday

1. May is less than a week away! We're going with the standard approach to the month, a.k.a. hold on for dear life and trust that we always end up in June somehow.

2. Gracie was invited to a birthday party last Saturday that Bridget tagged along to. Lucky thing, too, because she got to take home one of the coolest birthday party favors ever:

Balloon Ariel! Gracie didn't go home empty-handed, either:

It's hard to convey how cool this magician/balloon guy was, but he was. He made about 20 different balloon things and each was more amazing than the next. 

3. In the previous almost 17 years of Air Force life, I have never been stopped for a full car search at the gate. In the last week, I have been stopped twice. [Note: apologies to Matt for the smell of German Shepherd drool in the Subaru this morning. He was already asleep by the time I got back from gymnastics pickup/full car search, and I forgot to tell him this morning.] Last week it was after the three hour spectacle of four dentist appointments/getting everyone back to their respective schools; last night it was after a three hour gym for Gracie and Maddie. Gracie was not enthused. I think I need to buy a lottery ticket this week.

4. Speaking of Gracie, doesn't she look like a big girl all of a sudden?

5. And speaking of other big girls, this one aced her kindergarten screening yesterday and cannot WAIT to get the show on the road:

6. As it turned out, I didn't get to run in the Bring the Spring Bunny Dash 5K this weekend because of some schedule issues, but we still helped out. Maddie worked hard taking registrations and assigning bibs, Gracie managed the receipt and arrangement of donated bunnies (they received 272 just that morning!) and Bridget mostly just ran around with her bunny ears on. 

7. I would like to point out that today, Wednesday April 25, the Cleveland Indians are in first place in the Central Division. I am northeastern Ohio enough to not extrapolate on this.

8. I delivered pictures last night from the newborn photo shoot I did two weeks ago. The standard baby photos turned out really well but some of my favorites are the less traditional ones like these:

There's something about the memory of all the baby care that really speaks to me from the other side of this phase; it's so all-consuming, defining, and new. 

Baby G is awfully chill and cute...

...and look at that beautiful new mama.

9.
 
Our actual copy of Any Day a Beautiful Change arrived on Monday; while I've had an early proof copy for months on the computer, Matt decided to wait until the real thing was ready to read it. He promptly stayed up until 2 am on Monday night to finish it. It's that good. 

10. 

Design Challenges starts tomorrow! It's not too late to register. I had so much fun creating the content for this class... there is just something about a challenge brings out the best in everyone. Join me!

2012 Take Twelve April

April Take Twelve notes:

1. Since the beginning of March, Bridget has been attending one afternoon of kindergarten prep in addition to her regular 7.5 hours/week of morning preschool. It is hard to express how much she loves all-day preschool; she counts down all week to it. She gets to take her backpack with her lunch, and some of her favorite friends are there all day, too. I have been trying to cram in some extra projects in the time she is there. Running is supposed to be one of those projects, but I have somehow trashed my right knee this week : ( Trying to rest it so I don't have to drop out of my first 5K (next weekend) since the ill-fated disaster that was the Ohio Derby 5K in 1993.

2. Coffee and phone = necessity. Especially today.

3. Extra project #1 for the day: I am working with a vintage/antiques shop in town to build them a Typepad website. I had a meeting there to go over the big reveal and get notes for changes. I love the things the owner has in her shop—this cool chair was new since last time I was there.

4. Extra project #2 for the day: I did a newborn shoot for a new baby in the 'hood. It was fun. And extremely exhausting : )

5. Had to stop at the Bread Basket after picking up Bee to pick up something for later in the evening; she scored an M&M cookie on this visit.

6. By the time she gets home on Thursday she is ready to flop down for Word Girl, her favorite show.

7. Maddie, after school; she was fixing her own snack when I snuck up on her with my camera.

8. We don't usually do much after-school TV on piano/gymnastics nights (which means M-Th) because there is so little time in between but sometimes by Thursday Gracie is in desperate need of some TV time.

9. Maddie took a picture of the clouds on the way to the gym. We do have some pretty stellar cloud formations around here.

10. It is fund drive time for Wyoming Public Radio; not my favorite time of year though we are members and we definitely see the value in pledging our support—I just wish everyone would hurry up and donate so it didn't last so long : ) However, on this particular afternoon, I actually stayed in the parking lot before getting out to listen to the Ira Glass fund drive commercial in which he called a hot dog company CEO (I think it was the CEO) in Chicago to illustrate how difficult it is to run a business on the NPR model. It was hilarious. Did you hear it?

11. Bridget and I had to pick up some ice cream cakes at Culver's after dropping off the other two; it was a big secret for her to keep, that we were crashing Matt's staff meeting on Friday with these cakes in hand. It also provided an interesting opportunity to talk about what kinds of secrets are OK to keep and what kinds of secrets are not OK to keep.

12. I am subbing for the spouses' club bunko group this year, and this was the group shot before we started for the night. I have a rocky relationship with bunko, but this group is awfully nice and making up for the awful experience that bunko was ten years ago here :P

 

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Don't forget to link up your collages/pages to my post over at The Daily Trumpet for a chance to win this month's sponsor prize from Muvazi Skincare. Still on the fence about participating in the Take Twelve photography challenge? You can start any month of the year—there are no rules : ) Check out the Take Twelve Guided Inspiration Kit over at Ella Publishing Co. for more information!