Reflection on Disney Trip

Overall, we had a really great time at Disney, and do plan on returning sometime in the next few years. The company was great (thankfully, we are still friends with Joel and Melissa, which is a relief) and it was nice to go with people who knew the ropes, so to speak. While it's certainly possible to just show up, buy tickets, and do Disney for a few days, it's even nicer to have a strategy, avoid the peak crowd times, and have nifty experiences like Ohana and the character breakfasts (which often require reservations months in advance). I was pretty impressed by the overall customer service, the quality of the food, and the cleanliness of the whole complex. It really is a pretty amazing place and they do a phenomenal job of crowd control without appearing obvious. While it is expensive, I do think you get a lot of bang for your buck, if you pick and choose carefully.

The negative parts of our experience were largely outside of human control. First, the very hot and humid weather sort of put a damper on things. We had planned the visit for late October in order to avoid the heat, but basically wound up arriving during a heat wave. We had expected 70s and low 80s (and wouldn't have been unhappy with 50s or 60s), but wound up with high 80s and equally high humidity. Second, there were the stomach issues the men had for most of the trip. It's no fun being on vacation and being sick to your stomach. Third, Melissa and I each came down with something on our last day. Mine was just a bad cold, but as she found out upon returning home, hers was H1N1, and Josh wound up getting it, too. Then Susanna came down with an ear infection and James' stomach thing came back along with a sinus infection...so it took us about two weeks to recover from Disney, health-wise. Our friends have been passing back flu and colds and whatnot for the past six weeks, so we actually haven't seen them since getting off the plane. We're hoping to see them next weekend.

The bottom line? We had a good time (I had a great time, but James' experience was marred), are thankful for the experience (and to Joel and Melissa for their DVC points, because otherwise we either wouldn't have been able to go OR would have had to stay off-site), and hope to return sometime in the not-too-distant future. I definitely want to experience more of the parks (particularly Epcot and the Animal Kingdom, since we didn't see much of either), James wants to go on another Segway tour, and we both want to go back to Ohana and Biergarten (and I want to take James to Boma, since he missed out). Next time, I won't be pregnant (we've decided that two kids is enough for us) so I can go on roller coasters and we're thinking about aiming for a mid-December/early January trip to avoid crowds and hot weather. And if we can afford it, then I'd like to be able to spend a few more days...to have a couple of "resort/chill" days built in, where we simply enjoy the resort, rest, play mini-golf, go shopping, etc. And we would love to take a day or two and go to Sea World and Universal Studios.

By the way? While Disney is very family-friendly, it's also a fun place for adults, too. So if you don't have kids, I still highly recommend it as a way to get in touch with your inner child.

Disney Trip Day 6: Magic Kingdom, Trip Home, and Even More Illness

On Friday morning, we woke up early (thanks to our pint-sized alarm) and began packing up the room. Our plan was to check out, load up the van with our luggage, and spend time at the Magic Kingdom before heading to the airport around 4pm.

The night before, I had begun feeling the beginnings of a cold, and by morning it was coming at me full force. I was still feeling well enough to do stuff, and wasn't about to waste our last day at Disney. Melissa had woken up with a low-grade fever, so she wasn't feeling that great, either. We ate breakfast, got the van packed, checked out, and took the boat to the Magic Kingdom.

The crowds were worse on Friday than they had been our entire visit. The main reason for this was our bad timing that day; the MK was the park with "extra magic hours" that day. Basically, anyone staying in a WDW resort could come an hour early and/or stay three hours late. Melissa had designed our "touring plan" so we'd AVOID going to a park on the day it had extra magic hours. However, things had gotten mixed up between illnesses and such, so there we were. It wasn't horribly crowded, but more so than it had been on Tuesday.

Our first stop was the Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, because a) it was air conditioned and b) Susanna and James hadn't experienced it yet. After that, we headed over to Frontierland/Adventureland. I had us stop at near the castle to have one of the Disney photographers take a picture of James, Susanna, and me (it's the one on the blog). Melissa and Josh waited for us while we did that (it took maybe five minutes). Once we were done, Melissa said that they had to go back to the hotel, because the heat was just too much. We agreed to meet back at the hotel later that afternoon.

The heat, and James' still-recovering stomach, proved too much for us, too. We didn't do much after that; James went on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and all three of us went on the Pirates of the Carribbean ride (not the best choice for a two-year-old, but it was at least air-conditioned). Then we decided to look for lunch...and discovered that there was pretty much nowhere in the MK (or at least, near us) where James could find bland food. So...we decided to call it a day and head back to the resort. We ate lunch at Roaring Canyon, and Josh and Melissa joined us about halfway through the meal (she had eaten already, but had a drink). Then, we decided to drive around the WDW complex and look at Disney Vacation Club properties from the comfort of the van (James and I were, and still are, contemplating DVC ownership, but can't afford it right now). Then, we headed to the airport. Several long lines later (it took us almost an hour to get through security with an infant, a toddler, two adults, two car seats, two strollers, and several carry-ons), we arrived at our gate, boarded the plane, and finally arrived back home.

Tomorrow I'll provide a brief reflection on our Disney experience and share some of the aftermath (health-wise) of our Disney vacation.

Disney Trip Day 5: Animal Kingdom and Cape May

We started off Thursday pretty early, taking the bus to the Animal Kingdom. We had reservations at 8:05 for a character breakfast at Tusker House in the AK. For some reason, the AK doesn't open its parking lot until right before it opens...at 9am. Therefore, we had to take the bus, which wasn't a bad experience at all. James didn't feel like waking up that early (the only reason Susanna and I went was because she was WIDE AWAKE at 6:30 am), so he stayed at the resort with plans to meet us later.

It was, however, a very very very hot day, possibly the most humid day of our trip. I was sweating by the time we got to the restaurant. The meal was delicious and the characters were dressed in safari gear. Susanna began to warm up to the characters, and even managed to not scream or cry when we took a picture with Donald.

After breakfast, we touched base with James, who was awake and getting ready to head to the park. The rest of us did a few things to amuse ourselves while waiting for him. First, we went on the Safari ride. It was awesome, and while there were signs saying pregnant women shouldn't go on it, I saw no justification for those warnings...at least for those of us with normal, healthy pregnancies. It was a great way to see a bunch of animals, and fairly tame. After the safari ride, we headed over to the kids area and went to the Lion King show. Susanna loved that, because she loves music and dancing, and there was plenty of that. Once the show was over, James called me and said that he was at the front gate. Susanna and I went to meet him, while Joel and Melissa took Josh to meet some characters.

Side note: I should mention that Melissa made Susanna and Josh each three creative autograph books, with pages for every possible character, including sections for the two character breakfasts. However, due to Susanna's fear of/timidity around the characters, I decided not to force her to meet characters. Therefore, her autograph books are still largely blank, while Josh's have many more signatures. I figure we can get more autographs next time we go to Disney.

After we met James, we went on the safari ride for a second time, so James could have the experience. It was just as good the second time around. Then, we headed over to another part of the park and the non-pregnant people went on Expedition Everest, a roller coaster. I watched the kids, who pretty much looked at me and each other (we joke that Susanna and Josh are besotted with each other) . After the non-preggos returned, we decided to get lunch outside of the park, because a) it was really really hot and b) none of the counter service restaurants in the AK are air conditioned.

So, we decided to eat at Mara, the snack bar at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. We took the bus over to the AK Lodge, ate a delicious meal, and headed back to our resort for rest and to do some laundry. After a few hours of air conditioning and napping, we felt ready to head out again.

Our dinner reservations were at Cape May, which is a seafood buffet at the Beach Club resort. It was yummy, but not the best food (or the best service) we had during our vacation. James, unfortunately, began feeling sick towards the end of the meal, so we cut out a little bit early. Joel also had to get up very early the next day. He had a class on Friday afternoon (he's getting his master's degree) and his flight left pretty early on Friday morning. The rest of us weren't flying out until 6pm or so on Friday.

Up next: our last day at Disney and H1N1 begins to show its ugly face.

Disney Trip Day 4: Mickey, and Segways, and Boma, Oh My!

On Wednesday, Susanna and I woke up bright and early to attend the Chef Mickey's breakfast at the Contemporary Resort. It's a character breakfast, so we got to interact with Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and Pluto. I think Donald may have been there, too. The food was scrumptious, and Susanna wore her Belle dress (a hand-me-down from cousin Kaitlin), which led to us and everyone else referring to her as "Princess Susanna". (NOTE: We had decided to NOT do the Princess Breakfast because it costs a lot more, and we wanted to wait until she might have a chance of really remembering it.) Susanna's reaction to the characters ranged from ambivalence to absolute terror, but Josh absolutely loved them.

After breakfast, we headed back to the resort to check on James, who had stayed behind because he was feeling pretty rotten. We were hoping he would be feeling slightly better, because as their birthday present to James, Joel and Melissa had booked a Segway tour of Fort Wilderness for both of "the boys" and it was scheduled for 11am. James is a trooper, so he grabbed his Gatorade and went on the tour. While the boys were exploring Ft Wilderness, Melissa and I took the kids to Downtown Disney and did some shopping. We also ate at Earl of Sandwich, which was quite tasty. Once we ate, the boys were done with their tour and Susanna was fading fast (she needed a nap, and was getting very fussy), so we left. We picked up the boys and Susanna and I went back to the resort for a nap while Melissa took everyone else back to Downtown Disney for lunch (the boys hadn't eaten yet) and more shopping.

That evening, we had dinner reservations at Boma, which was at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. James' stomach wasn't feeling up to African food and Joel wasn't hungry yet (they hadn't eaten until 2pm, and it was just after 6pm), so Melissa and I took the kids to dinner and left the boys at the resort. It was a buffet, but Disney buffets are in a class by themselves. The quality and variety of the food is excellent, and Boma was no exception. I could have stayed and eaten all night, but our kids wouldn't allow that, and I think Melissa (the driver) would have gotten a little impatient, too. Susanna's favorite part was the fresh fruit, including strawberries and cataloupe (her faves). If you go, I highly recommend the carrot-ginger soup and zebra domes, among many other items.

Once we rolled ourselves back to our rooms, we said goodnight and headed to bed/our own devices. The next day we were planning on another character breakfast and some time in the Animal Kingdom.

Disney Trip Day 3: Another One Bites the Dust

Since we didn't have to wake up early for the launch, we slept until we woke up. Of course, for Susanna that was no later than 7:00 a.m. It was James' birthday, so I let him sleep in while I got her and myself ready. Once that was accomplished, we headed down to breakfast. Sometime around then, James woke up and elected to spend the morning at the resort rather than head to the Magic Kingdom. Susanna and I met up with Melissa and Josh (Joel was better, but resting) and the four of us headed to the MK.

We spent a few hours at MK, mostly in the Fantasy Land area. We went on a bunch of rides, including the carousel, Dumbo, the Pooh ride, and Mickey's Philharmagic. We were getting hot and decided to head back to the resort for lunch and rest. We met up with the boys at Whispering Canyon, ate lunch, and then the three Moneys headed to our room, changed into swimming attire, and spent some time at the pool.

After our pool time, we went back to the room and took a quick nap. Around 3pm we reunited with Joel, Melissa, and Josh and headed for Epcot. We had dinner reservations in Epcot and wanted to spend some time in the park before dinner. Melissa and I took the kids to the Finding Nemo ride and Talking with Crush while the boys went on Test Track. We then joined the boys and headed over to the Land pavillion. The non-pregnant people went on Soarin' and I watched the kids, which was fun, since Susanna kept playing peek-a-boo with Josh.

When we left the building, we discovered the first disaster of the night. During the half hour or so we were inside, it had POURED. Strollers weren't allowed in the building, so we (and everyone else) had parked our strollers outside. The fabric was SOAKED, so the strollers were unusable until they dried out. We removed the fabric covers and I thought I could use a hand dryer to remove the worst of the wetness. Of course, so many paper companies sponsor stuff at Epcot that there were only paper towels in the bathroom, not hand dryers. So much for that idea. So, with a non-walking nine-month-old and a newly walking two-year-old, we headed for Germany in the World Showcase...on foot. Susanna decided walking was overrated after about ten minutes, so James and I alternated between carrying her and pushing the stroller. Joel and Melissa didn't have it much better, since Josh wasn't walking at all.

We finally arrived in Germany, where we had reservations at Biergarten for James' birthday dinner. We took the stroller covers inside, hung them up on our chairs so they could air dry, and attacked the buffet. It was scrumptious, with lots of German foods. As I was going back for the third time (for dessert), James cornered me and told me that he was feeling really sick to his stomach. We needed to leave, ASAP. So, I shoveled down some apple strudel, we asked for and paid the check, and got the heck out of Dodge.

Of course, getting the heck out of Dodge isn't as easy as it sounds when you have sopping wet strollers (we had been in the restaurant for maybe half an hour), a sick birthday boy, a recovering sicko, two young children, and a pregnant woman. It probably took us 45 minutes to get back to the main park entrance, maybe longer. Melissa had to help me out at the end by carrying Susanna, because my back and hips were killing me.

We got back to the car and stopped at a convenience store (yes, they have one in the WDW complex) to get James some Gatorade. When we got back to the resort, he went to lie down and I hurried to the gift shop, praying fervently they would have some Gas-X (the convenience store didn't have any). Thankfully, the resort store did have Gas-X. James took some and we all went to bed.

Up Next: Chef Mickey's, Segway Tour, Downtown Disney, and Boma.

Disney Trip Day 2: The First One Falls

We woke up Monday morning. and began to get ready to go to Hollywood Studios for the day. As we began to head to breakfast, Melissa and Josh came out from their room with some bad news. Joel had been sick to his stomach the previous night, and obviously was not going to be joining us that morning. So the five of us headed to breakfast at the snack bar and then drove over to Hollywood Studios (the car was a nice thing to have, because we didn't have to deal with waiting for the buses with two small children).

It was already hot when we arrived. By "hot" I mean in the mid-80s with probably 60% humidity. Within a few hours, it was easily 90 degrees. The weather stayed like that our entire visit, which made things a little more difficult, especially for the pregnant woman. We went to the Playhouse Disney attraction, which was fun for the kids AND air-conditioned. We also met Chip and Dale and Josh (who at nine months had no fear of the characters) met the Little Einsteins. James went on the Aerosmith Roller Coaster while Melissa, the kids, and I hunted down Muppet paraphernalia for Bart. We did get FastPasses for "Toy Story Mania", but they weren't until 2:00 or so, and we had to leave before then. By noon, we were pretty toast between the heat and the walking. So, we headed back to the resort for lunch and rest.

After lunch, we ascertained that Joel was still not feeling well. He and Melissa had prepaid tickets to a wine-tasting event at the Japan area in Epcot. So they didn't waste a ticket, James went with Melissa while I stayed behind with the kids (since I obviously couldn't go wine-tasting). If you follow me on Twitter or are my Facebook friend, you probably saw me post something like, "my husband has ran off to Japan with another woman." Thankfully, despite being wooed with sake and sushi, James retained his senses and came back to me about three hours later.

Our plans for that night were to head to Epcot for the Food and Wine Festival, which is held every October. Joel was feeling slightly better, so all six of us headed out in the car. It was a very yummy experience; every few feet there was a different booth representing a different country, selling food and beverages from that country. I ate strawberry shortcake and crawfish etouffe from the U.S., a coconut shrimp stew from Chile, chicken souvlaki from Greece, and escargots en croute from France. The portions were sample-sized and cost between $3-6 a piece, so you could taste a bunch of stuff and not spend a fortune. The booths also sold samples of wine from the country, and of course Germany and the US had beer for sale, too.

Unfortunately, Joel began feeling worse as the night wore on, so we made a very quick lap around the World Showcase and headed back to the resort. We wanted to go to bed early anyway, because Melissa (who is, literally, a rocket scientist with NASA) had gotten us causeway tickets for the Aries launch down at the Kennedy Space Center. We needed to be awake at 3am to get ready and down there in time.

However, we had really underestimated how bad off poor Joel was. Within an hour of us returning to the resort, he had gotten much worse, clearly was not going to be able to go with us tomorrow, and Melissa decided (and we agreed) that it wasn't a good idea to leave him alone at the resort for most of the day while we went to Kennedy. It all worked out, though, because the Aries launch was postponed because of heavy fog. So if we had gone down there, it would have been an exercise in futility.

Coming tomorrow: Tuesday's report, including James' birthday, yet another illness, and the Magic Kingdom.

Disney Trip Report: Day 1

At the end of October, we went to Disney World with our friends Joel and Melissa and their son Josh (who was almost nine months old and simply adorable). They're total Disney pros and usually go about once a year (sometimes more). They own a Disney Vacation Club timeshare, and generously used their points to rent two studios (one for us, one for them), which saved us a huge amount of money. We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Villas, which was a really nice resort. I highly recommend it. We arrived on Sunday and left on Friday, which gave us four full days and two half days in Orlando. It was the first time James and Susanna had been to Disney and I hadn't been in about 12+ years.

On our first day, Sunday, our plane arrived a little after noon. Joel and Melissa (who had flown in the day before to see family) picked us up at the airport in the rented minivan (that was our contribution, since they provided accommodations). We went directly to the resort, checked in, got briefly oriented, ate lunch at Roaring Forks (the snack bar at the resort), and headed to the Magic Kingdom for a little while. We were able to access the MK via boat from the resort, which was very convenient. We spent about two hours at MK: I bought Susanna a pair of mouse ears and Melissa got her a "My First Visit" pin. We went on a few rides in Tomorrowland (the People Mover, Monsters Inc Laugh Floor, and one or two others that I forget), and then headed out for dinner.

We had reservations at Ohana, which is at the Polynesian Resort. We took the monorail from MK to the Polynesian, which was very convenient. Dinner was really really yummy. The food was brought to the table and served family-style, but it was all you can eat. Very heavy on the meat, with salad, noodles, and bread as side items. Think of a Brazillian steakhouse with a Polynesian twist. And the dessert was this bread pudding concoction that was to. die. for. Melissa (who made all the lodging and dining reservations) had told everyone that James and Joel were celebrating birthdays that week (James' was on Tuesday, Joel's was the next Sunday, but it was close enough), so the waiter brought cupcakes in addition to the dessert. They also had cute little buttons that said, "Happy Birthday _______" with their name written in the blank. People would see the pins and wish them happy birthday. It was kind of cute.

After we rolled ourselves back to our rooms, we said goodnight and headed to bed, because it was already 9pm and we had a long day.

Coming tomorrow: Monday's report, including tales of illness, heat, and the Epcot Wine & Food Festival!

Busy Weekend

This weekend has been, and will continue to be, very busy. Last night I was on-call, which means that I turned my pager on shortly before 9pm and turned it off shortly after 10:30am this morning. I respond to any deaths, "code blues" (cardiac arrest), or major crises that need a chaplain. I am paid for three hours (one hour travel, two hours of work) each time I respond to a page. Last night, I received one page at 3:30am, for a death. I headed to the hospital, spent time with the family, documented the visit, and returned home around 5:45am.

Later that morning, Susanna and I headed to Richmond (about two hours away) to meet with K and L, who are getting married in October 2010. I'm doing the wedding, so we've been meeting every few months for pre-marital counseling and ceremony planning. I'm glad we started early, since Greg is coming and I will be out of commission for March and most of April.

Susanna and I returned home around 6pm, and we made chicken nuggets and mac and cheese for dinner. Gourmet, I know. We also watched "The Muppets Take Manhattan", and Susanna went to bed (her bedtime is pretty firmly set at 8pm). Later, James and I watched a DVR'd episode of "House".

Right now, I'm doing laundry so that James (and I) have clean clothes to wear next week. Tomorrow I'm working all day (10:30-9) at DePaul, so I won't have time to do much tomorrow. The good news is that I should have a nice paycheck coming my way next week. :)

And Here's Gregory!

Isn't She Beautiful?

This was taken in late September/early October. I think the photographer had the idea of her holding the bouquet and looking demure, but Susanna had other ideas.

Tired

I'm too tired to post much tonight. I spent the day with Her Royal Highness (as I usually do) and then went to one of the hospitals I work at for a group memorial service. It was for all the families who had lost a loved one at the hospital over the past six or so months. Very nice. Then, I stopped by Babies R Us to buy diapers.

I was going to try and post some photos, but Blogger is having issues right now. Those of you who are my friends on Face*book have seen most of them, anyway. I'll try and do them tomorrow.

Have a great night!

The Past Two Months

Quick bullet points about our life over the past few months:

• Susanna began walking, and then took off. She's not running yet, but she walks very fast, is learning to jump and kick, and is basically unstoppable. She is a textbook two-year-old, complete with tantrums about minor things (today she screamed for five minutes because James wouldn't take her for a truck ride). She's about 35 inches tall and weighs 29 lbs. She is beautiful, intelligent, and has a feisty personality. I fear what my life will be like when she is a teenager. The good news is that she is also loving and sweet. She absolutely adores "Sesame Street" (Elmo in particular), playing outside, coloring, reading, and Simon. She and Simon are the best of friends, although he does sometimes give me this look that says, "and you're having ANOTHER one? There will be TWO of these around here?" We converted Susanna's crib into a toddler bed (it's one of those convertible cribs that morphs from a crib to a toddler bed with rail to a full-size bed) in mid-October, and I think she likes her "big-girl bed." The transition has gone well, with the exception of naps, which she often takes in her Pack and Play, because otherwise she won't stay in bed and then trashes her room.
  
• At our 20 week ultrasound, we found out that we're having a boy! We've decided to name him Gregory James. We're turning our office into the nursery and our living room will become our office. We have a family room, and weren't using the living room for much anyway, so it works out. Our house has four bedrooms, and we wanted to still have a guest room, so transforming the office into the nursery was the best option. We still have to clean out the room, paint it, order furniture, and decorate the room. It boggles my mind, but somehow it will get done. We're planning on ordering the furniture sometime after Christmas. We had picked out a set that we really really liked at a local independent baby store. However, that store closed overnight, so it's a good thing we didn't order from them. Now it looks like we're going to get a similar line from Babies R Us, which is actually going to cost about the same amount. It's only supposed to take seven to fourteen business days to arrive, so we can order it fairly late. If, for some reason, the furniture doesn't arrive by the time Greg does, we have a Pack and Play with a bassinet. I was going to have him sleep in that (in our room) for the first few weeks/months, anyway.
  
• The last week of October, we went to Disney World. That will get a post of its own, complete with pictures. In general, we had a lot of fun, although we did get sick and it was HORRIBLY hot. We were hoping to avoid the heat by going at the end of October, but apparently got there during a heat wave (90 degrees! 70% humidity!) which made us somewhat uncomfortable.
  
• We spent Thanksgiving at home and with my family for the first time in eight years. We hosted it (James did the cooking, I did the cleaning) and while it was exhausting, it was a lot of fun.
  
• James still loves his job, and they love him (very important in this economy). I'm really proud of him for getting an incredible evaluation and the top raise for the second year in a row. He works hard, is good at what he does, and it shows! I'm enjoying my job, and will probably blog about that at some point.
  

Hi! Yes, We're Alive!

OK, so I admit to have sunk to a new low by not posting for two and a half months. There are several excuses, and I'm sure you want to hear them. First of all, as you know, I am pregnant. And I have a two-year-old. Of course, that's a really lame excuse, since Alyssa posted regularly when she was pregnant with her THIRD child and working full-time. I'm barely working part-time. Of course, Alyssa clearly has super powers that I do not have.

My second reason goes a little deeper than the first one. If you're a longtime reader of this blog, you might have noticed that my blogging dipped significantly shortly after I started at St. John's in 2006, and then took a nosedive after we left Danville in 2008. I made the mistake of putting a link to the blog in my e-mail signature and several church folks began reading my blog. Then, they got upset about some things that I wrote...like about a mouse in a parsonage, how quickly news travels in the parish, and one or two other things. I began having to "censor" what I wanted to write about. It made blogging less fun. Obviously I couldn't blog much when things got REALLY bad at the end and didn't feel comfortable blogging about it afterward, either.

So, this January I started a totally anonymous blog, where I mostly talk through and process the whole SJ experience and the aftermath. By totally "anonymous" I mean that I haven't identified myself or my location by name, and use pseudonyms for James, Susanna, and anyone else I mention. I did share the address with James, and he reads it regularly, but almost no one else in my real life knows the address. If you really really want to read what I've written there, e-mail me. I'm not going to promise that I'll give you the address, especially if you're related to me.

Anyway, I've put a lot of time and effort into that blog, where I can be a little more open and honest about what's going on in my life. As a result, I've sort of abandoned this blog. I'm sorry about that, and I'm going to try and do a better job of updating this blog, especially in the month of December, when I'll try and post something every day. Last month was National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) and I posted every day at the other blog. I really enjoyed doing that, so I'm going to try and post every day here for the month of December. We'll see how I do, although I reserve the right to skip a few days if necessary. I am, after all, in my third trimester of pregnancy.

Dual Vocations

It's been almost three weeks since my residency ended, and the past two weeks I've pretty much been in my "stay-at-home mom" routine. While it's still very early in the game, right now I love it. I don't miss going to (paying) work and am enjoying the chance I have to attempt to make the house clean and orderly. I enjoy spending time with my daughter and not being exhausted in the evenings after driving an hour from the hospital. Of course, there are rough moments. Nora just turned two, and it seems like overnight she became the classic two-year old with tantrums and obstinacy. My patience wears thin some days. I'm not getting as much done as I'd like to, between fatigue (still! at 16 weeks!) and the explorations of an active two-year-old (she just learned to climb the stairs and she gets into everything, even when contained on one level). However, the good outweighs the not-so-good, and I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing.

In a way, I think that I've been struggling between my vocation as a clergyperson and my vocation as a mother ever since Nora was born. I don't believe the two are incompatible, and I know plenty of women who do both very well and even thrive. Their children thrive, too. I admire my friends and colleagues who fall into the above category. I'm just not sure that I'm called to both work a full-time (or even substantial part-time) job AND be a mother. I wind up feeling too torn and unable to do either vocation well. Right now, even if a high-paying, full-time, chaplain job (or the perfect parish) fell into my lap, I don't think I'd want to take it. Seriously. Even if it was "perfect" and the salary was amazing. I want to be able to focus my heart and my energy on my family, and I'm blessed to be able to do so.

I have, under my belt, an education that someone (me and Harry, my parents, some foundations, my paternal grandparents' estate, Uncle Sam) paid over $100K for, five units of CPE, and thousands of dollars and hours and hours of time spent working towards ordination in the UMC. I'm currently on family leave, and have five years (after this year) before my time as a provisional elder "runs out" and I have to begin again. Some might say that I am "wasting" all that I've worked for and not using my gifts. I'd have to disagree with them. I'm sure that Nora and Junior (our current name for baby #2) will benefit from my education and training. I also have the security of knowing that if something happened to Harry or his job, I would be in a better position to provide for my family than if I did not have a graduate degree and subsequent training. Finally, I do not believe that one needs to be in an "official" ministry position in order to practice their vocation.

I don't know how long this current season will last, but for now, I'm content. My family is stable and thriving, and so am I. I feel at peace and am doing what I feel God wants me to do. What more can I ask for? What more can any of us ask for?

On Her Own...

Isaiah 40:31 "Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not be faint." (Or something along those lines; I'm doing it from memory.)

This morning, during her PT session, Susanna took first two, then six, then eight, and then twelve steps on her own! She is two years, two weeks, and four days old. She's been in physical therapy for 10 months, been walking with one hand held for almost two months, and we were beginning to think that she'd never walk on her own (well, not really, but you know what I mean). We've met with a neurologist, had bloodwork done, she had an MRI brain scan, but everything seemed "normal." We were told it was just "a matter of time." It's been a long road, and very discouraging at times. But today made it all worth it.

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement along the way! I also want to give a "shout out" to Debi Adamson (our rock star physical therapist), the nice folks at La Petite Academy (who worked wonderfully with Susanna and integrated her into the toddler class), Dr. Cherry at Chesapeake Pediatrics, Dr. Northam at CHKD Neurology, and the Motorola Krazr cell phone that served as powerful incentive this morning!

Our World News Lutherans OK full communion with United Methodists - UMC.org

Our World News Lutherans OK full communion with United Methodists - UMC.org

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New Job...Or Actually, Jobs

My residency program ends a week from today. My initial plan (at the beginning of the summer) was to look for a full-time or substantial part-time chaplain job. Then we found out that Junior was "baking" AND I researched daycare costs at our current center (which I love love love). Do you know how much full-time daycare would be for a two-year-old and an infant? Try almost $1500 a month. And then there's the "I don't wanna leave my babies in the care of others for 8-10 hours a day" issue. So, I decided to stay at home at least through Junior's first birthday and find some other ways to make money/stay engaged in my vocation.

There are three major health systems in this area and one independent hospital. They often hire "PRN Chaplains" to cover night duties and fill in when a regular staff member is sick/on vacation. About a month ago, I saw a posting for one of these positions and applied for it. I had a phone interview about two weeks ago, and an interview about 10 days ago. I felt great about the interview, but expected it to be two weeks before I heard anything. On Monday morning, I found out that I had been offered the position. I accepted it, and have spent this week running around doing pre-employment stuff (forms, health screening, badge photo, etc).

I'm pretty excited about the job. I'll be doing one or two nights a week, taking calls from home via a pager. I get paid a minimal amount just for carrying the pager and then get paid when I'm actually called to the hospital, for the time that I'm there. If a regular staff chaplain is away for any reason, I may be called in to work a regular shift.

The nice thing about this position is that it will allow me to stay home with Susanna and Junior when he arrives while still contributing to the household coffers and keeping my feet wet in the chaplaincy field. For the month of September, I'll also be helping out at Riverside, doing on-call nights for pay. The 2009-10 residency program was initially cut by administration but has recently been "resurrected", so us current residents will be helping to cover evenings and weekends until the new residents have begun.

Blast from the Past

Like Joelle, over at Skating in the Garden, I am a huge figure skating fan. Unlike Joelle, I don't skate myself; I just watch figure skating. I first become enthralled with it back in 1992 at the Albertville Games, at the young age of 15. I watched Paul Wylie win the silver medal and was hooked. For some reason, I thought of that performance the other day. I haven't seen it in years; at one point I had a VHS tape but I don't know what happened to it. Anyway, thanks to YouTube, I found it online. I thought I'd share it for your viewing pleasure. Not sure who the commentators are; it might be a Canandian broadcast because they seem a little subdued and mention a lot of Canadian skaters. As opposed to Scott Hamilton, who did a lot of the commentary for the US broadcast and was literally shouting with joy at the end of the program.

Resurrection of Sorts

It's been a fun few days around the Money house...or if not fun, at least interesting.

Susanna ran a fever until this morning, when it apparently disappeared for good. Her fever hovered between 101 and 102 degrees and besides a clear lack of appetite (she was drinking enough, but eating almost nothing) and general fussiness, was her only symptom. We took her back to the pedi this morning, and they said everything looked fine, it probably was just a virus, bring her back on Thursday if she still has a fever, etc.

This afternoon, she woke up from her nap and James took her to Moe's for daddy-daughter bonding time (I'm at work tonight). She ate her entire (kiddie-size) quesadilla. And some chips and sour cream. Yay!!!

Tomorrow, she'll be able to go back to daycare for the first time since Thursday. They'll be delighted to see her (really, I think the director is going to cry when Susanna leaves in two weeks) and James and I can go back to life as normal without having to make contingency plans each day. On Friday, Mom came and watched her. Yesterday, I switched shifts with my colleague M so I could stay home with her. Today, James stayed home for half the day so I could have my "health assessment" for my new job (more on that later!) and took her to the pedi. Tomorrow's plan was for me to drop Susanna off at Mom and Dad's on my way to work. While Mom is happy that Susanna is feeling better, she seemed disappointed that she wasn't going to get to have extra "Nani-Susanna bonding time."

My Final Self-Evaluation for the Residency

1. Describe your understanding of the strengths and limitations of your ministry.

Strengths: I am authentic, transparent, self-aware, enthusiastic, compassionate, love people and hearing their stories, am open to personal change and transformation, preach and lead worship effectively, and am flexible/collegial (I don't need everything done my way, and I don't mind "out of the box" thinking/doing). I am also persistent when I want to be.

Limitations: I'm still seeking a good balance between: head and heart (as Doug told me once, my heart leads me to be compassionate, but my head leads me to maintain distance and I tend to rely upon my head); spontaneity and intentionality (I tend to fly by the seat of my pants, and am realizing that I can't be the person I want to be and not be intentional/deliberate about certain areas of my life); and pleasure and obligation (if I spend too much time doing "fun" stuff and am not productive enough, then I get consumed by guilt and overwhelmed. Likewise, if I spend too much time working/doing housework/whatever, then I lose any sense of fulfillment and run into exhaustion and resentment). I also struggle with the "tyranny of the they", meaning I often allow the opinions/perceptions of others guide my decisions, actions, and self-perceptions more than I would like. I do feel like I've grown in all these areas over the past year, especially the final one.

2. Describe your ability to provide ministry to a variety of people with particular attention to cultural and ethnic diversity, social conditions, systems, and justice issues, which may differ from your own.

I now realize just how much our own experience/culture informs how we view and interact with the world and those in it. My experience working with different families/patients (particularly those living in poverty or near to it), hearing/reading about the Tuskegee Experiment and the horrors of that, and encountering a young man who possesses incredible gifts for ministry yet is also an "open and out" homosexual, have all played a key role in this realization. As a pastoral care provider, I have a desire, an ability, and a duty to care for people who are different from me, but know that I may need to make adjustments in my method/role depending on the needs of the individual or family. One priceless lesson that I have learned is how important it is to HEAR peoples' stories, validate them and the feelings associated with them, and seek to understand where the other person is coming from before passing judgment (if any). I have a growing desire to work with people in order to bring about lasting change in individual lives and communities. I believe that so many cases of alcohol/drug abuse, poverty, and violence are largely due to systemic/cultural issues that contribute to poor choices on the part of an individual, not the other way around. I want to help empower individuals and communities, because I think a sense of powerlessness is part of the problem.

3. Describe your ability to make use of a variety of pastoral skills.

One of my biggest areas of growth this unit has been an increased confidence in, and use of, my own instincts. Instead of allowing my head to rule and my heart to follow along, I feel I am experiencing more and more moments when I follow my heart while being informed by my head. When the latter occurs, I have had moments of great personal fulfillment and a sense of effectiveness as measure by my own senses and by reactions of patients, families, and colleagues. For example, during a recent conversation with an 80-something woman who was moaning, "why don't I have any friends? How can I get friends?" I began to think of solutions to her problem and suggest them to her (head! she was asking a question! I was giving an answer!) only to immediately discover on my own that she didn't want answers right then, she wanted someone to BE a friend and listen to her. So, I listened for an hour, prayed with her, and offered appropriate questions/feedback when the time was right. It was one of my best visits ever, and at the end of the visit, she was calm and told me I had been her "angel." Up until recently, I believe that I possessed adequate, even good, pastoral skills. However, beginning to conquer this mountain has given me a confidence to USE those skills and therefore be more effective.

4. Describe your ability to provide specific pastoral care based on your understanding of behavioral science and theology.

I found this question hardest to answer, and saved it for last. I think that's ironic given the amount of attention I've paid to family systems over the past few months. I feel like I am able to observe and identify the basic workings of a specific family system, and provide pastoral care based on those observations. I have learned that depending on the system, a family may grieve and respond to death/crisis/tragedy in different ways. I feel that my role is to learn how that system works and meet them where they are, offering a different perspective at the appropriate time. In other words, to work as an agent of change and healing in a family, without imposing my own agenda on them. A lot of learning in this area occurred when my grandmother died, and I found myself crying beforehand, dry-eyed when I initially got the news, and telling people, "well, she lived to be 92, had a great life, we knew this was coming, at least she's not in pain anymore"...all things that drive me crazy when others say them, but they really were comforting to myself and my family. Observing the different ways my family and James' family handle grief has showed me that there is no "right way" or "wrong way" to do so...within reason, of course. In my own family and others, I have seen evidence of God's redeeming work within the dysfunction of a system, mostly thanks to individuals who were courageous enough to realize the need for change and make those changes.

5. Describe your ability to be accountable, productive, self-directed, and clear in your communication with others.

I believe that I have experienced significant growth in this area, although it remains a "growing area" for me, and probably will for some time. My growth has come in my willingness to a) admit this is a growth area, b) express a desire to change and explore the "whys" of this particular area, and c) understand that this goes way beyond buying a Palm Pilot and making lists; it's much, much deeper than that. I will say that I feel that my communication with others has improved this unit, particularly in my marriage, but also with my colleagues and supervisor. I'm beginning to realize that people can't read my mind and even those who know me very well can't always sense what's going on in my life...unless I tell them. I also believe that a lot of my current and future growth in this area revolves around being intentional and deliberate in both my personal and professional lives in order to accomplish what needs to be accomplished and on time to boot. Otherwise, my life controls me, when it ideally could be the other way around.

6. Describe your ability to make use of self in ministry with particular attention to emotional availability, appropriate self-disclosure, use of personal power, non-anxious presence, and responsible boundaries.

In some ways, I feel like being pregnant for about half of this unit and experiencing the decline/death of my grandmother both impeded and enhanced my growth in this area. Impeded because I was exhausted/nauseous so much of the time, was experiencing anticipatory (and then actual) grief, and really had to struggle to "be here" emotionally and physically. I tried not to let all the above affect my performance/participation, but I'm sure it did to a certain extent. Enhanced because I was committed to truly being present, was intentional at using the commute to work through emotions, and really made conscious efforts to acknowledge my emotions and the source of them, but not be controlled by them. As I've mentioned before, one of my proudest moments of the past year came when I held it together for two hours immediately before and during my grandmother's memorial service (which I led), despite all the emotions that were coursing through me, and heard my cousin say that she felt nothing but strength and peace coming from me. I don't think I could have done that (being a calm, non-anxious presence in that setting) a year ago. As my self-confidence has increased, I am much more confident establishing and enforcing boundaries, practicing appropriate self-disclosure, and using my personal power in a positive manner. I believe that parenthood has contributed a great deal to this growth; raising a toddler has opened my eyes to the necessity of boundaries ("no, we do not pull Mommy's hair") and to my power/influence as a parent, which for me transcends into my professional life.

7. Describe relationships with peers, and evaluate each peer.
The residents: I have thanked God many times since September for giving me such great colleagues. Thank you so much for speaking the truth in love, even though sometimes you needed to hit me over the head with it. I have appreciated your honesty, affirmations, critiques, and friendship.

The interns: as a group, you all have inspired and convicted me with your enthusiasm, gifts for ministry, initiative, creativity, and just being wonderful people overall. You have driven me to be a better person and therefore a better chaplain, and I am very grateful for that.

Note: individual evaluations have been deleted by me.

8. Describe relationship with supervision and evaluate supervisor.

Supervision: Having had one other supervisor (also very good) prior to beginning the residency, it took me a while to become used to Henry's slightly different supervisory style. With him, supervision is more like a conversation and the responsibility for direction lies equally with the student, especially during the later units. Once I realized that he did not have a secret passage in his office that led to the woodshed, I began to look forward to supervision as a time to bounce thoughts and ideas off of him and receive feedback on those thoughts. With very few exceptions (always related to me, not him), I have always left supervision feeling better and being clearer than when I began.

Supervisor: I'd say that I want to be Henry when I grow up, but I don't think I want to be a CPE supervisor, so there you go. I have spent many hours thanking God that I was able to have Henry be my supervisor for this residency. He was exactly what I needed at this time in my life and ministry. After having so many authority issues, it has been such a blessing for Henry to encourage me to use my own judgment and exercise my own authority (within reason, of course).

9. Describe relationship with other professionals.

I have enjoyed working as a team member in the ER, ICU, CCU, and with Palliative Care. Those are the settings where I have felt most like a team member and less like an independent contractor. My biggest authority issues in the past have been with ER staff, but I have received so few ER pages in the past few months that I haven't encountered any issues in that department. I have really enjoyed going on ICU rounds on Fridays when we don't have seminars and hearing the perspective of other disciplines on a patients care. I think one of the best examples of my growth in working with other professionals occurred a few months ago, when I was paged to a terminal extubation. The family was present, and death was expected to occur fairly quickly. Instead, when they extubated the patient, she woke up and within a few minutes was gasping for air (no oxygen, just room air) and clearly agitated. This made the family agitated, of course, because they were not expecting this. To make a long story short, I relayed the family's concern to the nurse and asked her what comfort measures could be put in place to make things easier for the patient/family. She wound up giving the patient oxygen through a nasal canula and a shot of Atavan (sp?). Within moments, the patient was asleep and much more peaceful, and so was the family. The nurse thanked me, explained that it was her first terminal extubation, and we had a few moments of "I couldn't do your job, but no, I couldn't do YOUR job, thanks so much" affirmations. I was careful to acknowledge her as the expert in medical care (compared to me, anyway) but knew that I had a responsibility to help her care for the patient, and show her what I was seeing.

10. Describe your ability to self-supervise.

I feel like a lot of growth has occurred in this area, just over the past few months, and I have seen the evidence in my clinical material and the response to it. Where before, Doug and the residents had to drag stuff out of me and "do my work for me", now I feel like I'm doing much more work on my own, and only rely on my peers and supervisors for insights I might have missed. I do feel so much more confident in naming my strengths, being creative, and standing by my decisions. Previously, I feel like I relied way too much on others to "show me the way" and to tell me who I was. However, now I feel that I know who I am, what I bring to the table, and where I need to improve. While I welcome feedback and input, and will continually seek arenas where I can receive it, I feel comfortable going about my professional and personal life without a "ride-along", to use Steve's terms. I think this (my confidence in self-supervision) will be tested in a matter of weeks, once the residency ends and I devote he majority of my time to being a wife and mother, with my only "colleague" during the day being a two-year-old and receiving feedback each night when my husband comes home.

11. Describe your learning goals and success in achieving them.

• To decide on a summer project
  • Met. I essentially decided that my summer project was going to focus on me, so I consider this goal to be met. I feel that this final unit has been one of great learning and realization for me.
• To decide about my immediate future, beginning September 1
  • Met. I will continue to seek a PRN/per-diem chaplain position, but will focus the majority of my time and energy on my growing family. I will continue to meet with my therapist once every two weeks for continued growth. I will speak with my D.S. about my sense of calling, and come June/July 2010 will probably seek a full-time chaplain job or a part-time parish position.
• To grow in my ability to follow my instincts, rather than "being safe."
  • Met. I have discovered that when I follow my instincts, I usually wind up with a great sense of fulfillment and joy. Realizing that provides me with motivation to go beyond "safe mode."
• To develop my ability to move beyond listening and facilitation to a deeper means of providing pastoral care
  • Met. I feel like a lot of this growth has occurred outside of the hospital (in my marriage, with family and friends), but I've learned the lesson that who I am as a person very much informs who I am as a pastoral care provider. A big part of this growth came when I realized how much I feel cheated when friends/colleagues merely enable me and offer sympathy instead of speaking the truth in love.