For the Love of Trains

He has always loved them.  Trains.  Ever since I can remember.  If he had something with wheels, he loved it, but if it was on a track even better.  He could sit for hours and watch the wheels go around and around. He always looked at them with wonderment.  I don’t know what it is for him.  The power or speed of them, the idea that nothing unexpected is going to happen, or if it was just soothing to him. 

I thought he would grow out of it.  It started with the Geo Trax and Thomas.  He would spend hours happy to sit and just watch the trains go around the track.  He would sleep with them or a car, anything that had wheels.  Aren’t little ones supposed to snuggle with something soft?  He would pick a train or a car and it went everywhere with him as if it was his security blanket.  He would push them back and forth over and over again.  What was going on in his little mind?  Was he taking them on a journey?  Why was it soothing to him?   

I guess we didn’t try to stop the love.  I encouraged it.  I took him to see the trains, and we would chase them in the car.  How many times could we catch it at the different intersections to watch them?  I took specific routes that I knew would cross the track.  On our trips to Tucson and back, we would stay at the same speed. I checked out videos from the libraries.  We would visit my parents in San Francisco, and we took him to ride the various trains around the area.. We took the Amtrak to the Sacramento Train Museum.  He was invited to the front of the train and was able to honk the horn. He is nine and still talks about it.  He rode the trolley, and one that takes you through redwoods.  We took the trains in Seattle.  His other grandmother planned a trip to Milwaukee and we arrived by plane, took the El, and then took the Amtrak instead of renting a car.  What an exciting day for a 3 and a half-year-old!

He is now nine.  He draws them and reads books about them.  He has moved onto documentaries and science shows about them and away from Thomas.  He still plays with his Geo-trax just because the set we have is so big, and when little ones come over, he knows they will love them too.  He now goes with his Papas to train stores and has his HO sets and engines.  They are his obsession. He still loves to race the trains on the freeways and loves to see engines he has never seen before.  We still go to train stations and watch the trains go by.  There are times when I wish he would talk about other things, but I am happy to know he still wants to talk to me.  One day he will be too cool for his mom.

It will be interesting to see if he ever grows out of this.  I thought he would have a long time ago. Until then I am going to let him love his trains even if others think he shouldn’t.  But honestly, I hope he always loves them. 

Lost and Hopefully Found

So once again I have been lost in action.  Where does the time go?  How does it slip by so fast without a single moment for me to sit and just think (or type quietly by myself)?  Even as I sit here at 10 pm, I have a little one who is leaning on me and can't seem to go to sleep in her own bed because she is "scared."  Scared of what you may ask? Talking toys....oh honey, I wish you only knew about the things you should be really afraid of like...spiders and snakes and creepy people.

I went back to work full time and this is what happens.  All the simple and quiet moments I was thinking would be mine have completely disappeared.  I go to bed late and get up early, and yet my day just flies by. I don't seem to have a moment to write like I was starting to enjoy.  I knew I should have taken my friend's advice and started on this whole blog thing much sooner.

Here are a few things I have re-learned since going back to work:
1.  There is never enough time in the day.
2.  Politics at work is something I have always been pretty good at staying clear of.
3. It is nice to have adult conversation when it makes me laugh; however, I still think it is better during happy hour!
4.  It is nice when my husband acknowledges how much I did while I stayed home and admits it was a lot now that nothing ever seems to get done.
5.  Grading papers after school while trying to help my son with homework is not easy.
6.  Grading papers on the weekend....sucks.... My students are not allowed to use that word, but I have to admit it is pretty appropriate.
7.  There is never enough time in the day.
8.  The realization that my husband is such a huge help is fantastic.  It is nice to be a team player.
9.  Missing all the things about staying home like a stolen quiet moment is not necessarily a good trade off for a paycheck but the paycheck does help.
10.  Going to the gym after school can be a stress reliever and a stress adder depending on the dwindling time of the day!
11.  It was going to be so exciting to have a paycheck to buy all the things I wanted but couldn't buy while I stayed home only to find that trying to find the time to get to the mall to get that pretty purse is impossible to find!


I wonder how long it will take me to write again.  .......hopefully not as long as I have a few pieces of travel advice I need to share!

Found Treasures

So I have been missing in action.  Although I am not sure that is the correct terminology since I have only posted a few times.  So here I am back trying to write. 

I was busy substituting for my best friend.  I forgot how much fun teaching was, and I am so looking forward to my new job this year!  My faith in sophomores has been restored thanks to the classes I taught, so I am actually looking forward to them this year!  Cross your fingers for me!

Now summer has started, and I have been busy with wonderful trips and keeping my kids busy while trying not to let the house fall apart.  Not an easy task when you are out at the pool in the evenings and keeping them busy during the day!

Loving this pic of my guy!  

Nothing beats hot evenings in the pool watching your little one wearing purple goggles  figure out how to swim and jump and pretend to be Esther Williams.

 



And trips up north to see trains upon trains for my train fanatic kids.  Placing pennies and dimes and quarters on the tracks to squish them is the best. 

 

One of the best parts about us is that we enjoy little side trips.  We love the history, the architecture, and the memories we make.  Usually they are unexpected and unplanned.  And along our journeys we always find treasures like La Posada in Winslow.

It was a Harvey Hotel (hotels and restaurants for the Santa Fe Railroad).  La Posada was to be the grandest.  During the 1930's it was quite the place for jet setters.  The location was fantastic because it was a one day drive to anything in the northern part of the state.   It remained open for 27 years before being shuttered and turned into offices for the Santa Fe Railroad.  It was shuttered in the 60's and faced demolition numerous times.  However, that never happened. Thankfully in 1997, restoration begun to restore La Posada to its original state. 

Everyone always asks what we do on vacations, and they are always surprised.......which is funny when you consider that my husband loves to plant and garden. But we really love to visit amazing gardens.  I am not sure if it was the Spanish architecture that I was crazy about, but this has to be one of the most beautiful gardens I have seen.  I loved the enclosed feeling, the beautiful shades of green, and the quietness.  I was captivated by the comfort of it all.

Isn't it magnificent to have a garden with walls of Hollyhock!  

I could just imagine all the travelers rushing to and from their train for a wonderful meal or walking to go and check-in.  How many travelers walked these paths? 



I think I am going to blow this up and have it in my classroom!

We had read and heard that it is was beautiful, but we really had no idea what to expect.  I have to admit I think it was one of my favorite places to see in AZ.  I am lucky that I have a husband who likes to see old buildings with me and appreciates them just as much as I do....and my kids are learning to see the beauty in all of it.  

More Wishes

1.  I wish I could take tap dancing lessons again.

2.  I wish I was a fabulous photographer like Teresa of Meadowbrook  farm.

3.  I wish I could just put anything together in a bowl, and it taste as delicious as my moms.

4.  I wish I was a fabulous writer like my friend Liz.  She just knows how to say it. 

5.  I wish I was better at painting my own fingernails.  Seriously, how hard can it be?

6.  I wish I was the world champion of porch swinging.  I need a swing!

7.  Oh and painting  - my straight line needs work but my kids are fantastic!

8.  And piano playing

9.  and singing would be fabulous

10.  And I really wish I had a little bit more patience.

The Porch Swing Dream

I think I came from a different time period.  I have always wanted a porch swing.  Maybe because my grandparents have one.
 Maybe because it is so soothing after a long day. I could sit on it and watch the rain and listen to the crazy sounds of thunder.  This one is perfect.  And anyone who knows me knows that I love the color turquoise, any shade of blue green.   

There are only two problems.  One I have kids, and two since my porch is surrounded by windows on all three sides, I will never be able to have a swing.  I can just hear the crash now as my kids push it through the window as they try to see how high it can go…..guess I need to find a sky blue glider. ….. or maybe I could have a beautiful ramada built just for it.  Oh someday….

Doesn't it just make you smile?  Will you come and sit a while with me?

Staying Home

For the past four years I have been a stay-at-home mom.  When I stayed home with my first, I only managed to do it for two years.  I went back to work, and we moved back into the city.  Then she came along, and I decided to try it again.  Maybe this time it would be different.  I had no idea what to expect. 

The first time we lived way out of the city, and I was lonely.  Honestly, I think he was too.  He was turning three, and he needed to have that interaction.  I tried to keep him busy, but there were days that it just seemed impossible.  We would walk for hours and count the rabbits, look under rocks, and search for someone to talk to.  He would push his yellow and blue truck so far and fast that at night his legs would ache.  I had a wonderful play group who kept my sanity, but we would only meet once a week.  The worst part was we lived so far from each other.  During the beautiful months, we would go to the zoo.   I would take him to the library which was a half hour long, but there were not people there who I wanted to be friends with.  We would grocery shop, go to the gym, and every Wednesday we would eat pizza at Costco.  My husband worked long hours, and the days never seemed to end. 

Now the days seem to go so fast.  This time my experience has been totally different.  We still go to the gym and Costco, but it seems as if with two, there is never enough time for anything.  I have a wonderful set of friends who we do play dates with quite often.  We trade days and dates and meet at the park.  A few have moved farther away, but I still have them to count on.  This has been a much happier staying-at-home experience for me.  I have friends and places close by.  I do work from home now and that does take a few hours out of my day.  Yet, I feel as though I have missed out on some of the little things.  How have I managed to do that?  How have I not taken her to the zoo as many times as I did him?  How do we not do the library?  Then I realize that our friends, mine and hers, have allowed us to have great play dates without having to go far.  This time I wasn't the only one searching friends out; this time they found us… and what a great blessing they have been.   

I feel as though every moment is taken up with laundry and dishes and just plain picking up toys and Legos and doing homework.  Now I am looking for a position for the next school year and wondering, how in the world is it all going to fit into one day?  It will have to, but she is ready for a full day of friends and learning, and I think I am too.    

Spring in the Desert

The desert in spring has to be one of the most beautiful places to be.  I know many of you would argue, but it is all I have ever known.  The rain blowing across the desert is one of the most beautiful sights, and the smell of the creosote bush is something that I love.  For me, it is the smell of comfort.   I wish they could bottle it or make it into a beautiful candle.   And I have to admit that the lightning storms during the summer are the best...especially in Tucson.  The way it echoes off of the mountains.  The way it shakes the whole house, and the best storms are those that just make me want to sit on my back porch and soak it all in. 

The problem with loving the spring is that it never seems to stay long enough for a great visit.  And summer in the desert is just....well... miserable. 

Dear Spring,

Please stay a little longer this year.  I am so not ready to visit with Summer, but if she must come, please let her bring lots of rain and beautiful and bright lightning.  

Love Always,

ME