Hello? Is this thing on? Hi. Not sure why I’m searching in my mind for an excuse as to why I haven’t written on my blog in…well…a very long time. I was all ramped up to actually keep this thing updated. I guess my only valid excuse is that life got busy and I reduced the priority of yet another time sucking activity to, quite frankly, below the bottom of the to-do list. I actually regret it. 2011 was a doozy. It even spilled some of its craziness into 2012 because it over-flowethed. I’m not kidding; it was a crazy past 15 months or so. But that is what I most regret about not taking some time to put it down on blog paper. In lame bullet format, here is a little of what happened in more or less chronological order (each of which could/should/and might warrant its own blog entry…No promises however. I won’t make that mistake again especially as it relates to promised blog post quantity and/or frequency).
- · Ruptured my Achilles tendon. Ok, so you got a little of this when I started…but recovery, physical therapy, and excuses about how I could not do something continued the entire year and well into 2012. The emotional scars are still fresh. “Hey Tyler, you coming to play basketball or soccer this weekend?”…shudder. Still can’t bring myself to do anything requiring sudden movement in the opposite direction… It is going to be a while…
- · The winter of 2011 dropped a ton ‘o snow. I’m pretty sure it snowed at minimum 8-9 inches each time it snowed. This was after the initial snowstorm that happened on December 26, 2010 which dropped over 18 inches and left some snow drifts as deep as 3 feet. After the initial snow storms, there was an ice storm that left 3 inches of ice on everything. The kids played in the yard 3 feet above ground for the next several months. As for me, I watched it all (except for the first storm which almost gave my dad and me a heart attack to shovel) from the comfort of my home with the discomfort of my gimp leg and crutches. We hired a full service snow removal company to remove all the snow after each subsequent snow storm…just kidding. Lindsey turned amazon-viking-like and did it all by herself. She shoveled for hours on end it each time it snowed (or iced…) with a smile on her face…again…I lie. I have influenced Lindsey in a couple ways during our marriage… first to drive at leave a car’s length off the car in front of her and second to be thrifty (in her words cheap). For the avoidance of doubt, I begged her to get a snow blower. That my friends is the honest truth.
- · Christian turned 4, Ava turned 5. What happened to years 3 and 4? Too. Fast.
- · Achilles tendon rupture and all, I got restless and replaced the mud room floor, kitchen floor and backsplash. Looks amazing. Unfortunately and fortunately, it gave me confidence to do much more around the house. I’ll get to that in a bit.
- · Hurricanes, earthquakes, pestilence… Yes, mother earth was pissed for some reason in 2011.
While we were enjoying our vacation in the outer banks of South Carolina, a rare earthquake shook the east coast. No significant damage was done except the Washington monument which apparently cracked (that or Washington saw this as an opportunistic reason for an overdue remodel). I didn’t feel the shaking but a friend we were with, Jenna Lestarge, did. Jenna is lower to the ground so perhaps that was why? Kidding Jenna. You’re not short…
About 2 days into our trip, Hurricane Irene started to give us a dirty look from afar. I will never name one of my kids Irene. I might call them Irene in a moment of rage however…no promises. Just as I cannot bring myself to give one of my kids the name of a girl that I dated (not a reflection of how they treated me but probably because of how I treated them…) I cannot bring myself to even put this on the list of possibilities at this point. Not because it is a bad name, rather because of what Irene did to me for the next couple months. To put it in dating terms…it was not a quick break. It was a fade which lasted, as I said, months. I think I will have to shelve this one for its own post. There way too much to say right now. It will include further description of the following: rain, flood, devastation, Mormon Helping Hands, muck, mud, mold and service. Boy did we ever serve and looking back, it was a great experience.
- · The flu went through our house (and bodies…) I don’t know how many times or how fast (quite literally…)
- · Bennett jumped off the high dive at the lake at 2.5 years old beating Christian’s record of 3.5. We are told that he was the youngest person in anybody’s recollection to jump. Yes…he jumped…I didn’t push. I walk him out to the end of the diving board and like any good parent, left him there and began to encourage him to do something that was crazy. Lindsey helped him swim to the side by-the-way… What? You think we would make him do it alone? I also point this out to let everybody know that Lindsey, although not a fully excited participant, participated none-the-less.
- · Painted the fence outside, did a ton of yard work and spent even more time talking about what we want to make of the yard given time and money.
- · Replaced 7 windows in the house. No. We did not hire this out. Do we hire anything out?
- · It snowed in October 2012 and we were without power for a couple days and it was fr..fr…freezing. We could see our breath inside our house, there was a live power line down in the front yard (I don’t understand that either) and there was nowhere to go. I almost lost my mind (sorry to my mom who was visiting during this dark time).
- · Bennett turned 3. Our neighbors thought he most certainly must be much older than that given that he has been running the neighborhood since we moved in 1.5 years before his big day. I had to pause and wonder whether the neighbor’s surprise was because Bennett was so capable or that his parents were so irresponsible to let him run around like he has… He is very capable…
- · Started work on our big remodel job in the finished attic. We are closing off the space to make a master suite and adding an on suite bathroom (rare in these old houses). Ok…this job is huge and complex and most definitely requires another post…including the fact that I fell through the floor/ceiling of the bathroom below. I screwed up my finger…and Lindsey got two new bathrooms… Frankly, I’m glad to still have a face. Ok, so we did hire out the plumbing but that is it. Hopefully this project will be done by July 2012…
- · Friend in the ward suddenly died. Mother of 5 (ranging from 1 year old to 13). No words here. Just defines tragedy and highlights the importance of hope in what we believe.
- · Christian turned 5 and Ava turned 7. Great kids. I squeeze all the kids a little more these days.
- · Mother Nature showed mercy during the winter of 2012 after the slap to the face in October which turned out to be biggest snow storm of the year.
- · I left KPMG and took on a new job in New York City with Salesforce.com. The change has been good. I love New York and the plentiful street meat that can be found there. Yes, I’m talking about food you pervert.
- · I was released as EQ president and I’m now the Stake Director for Public Affairs. Interesting time to have this type of calling. I’m just getting into it. Stay tuned. I’ll likely get fired up on this topic. The more you read about what people think you believe, the more you get the picture of how little they understand about Mormon beliefs.
So there you have it. I’m as up-to-date as I’ll ever be.
