earthsedge

Wow, it has been a while! But according to Google Analytics, there are still quite a few people stopping by the old blog, which makes me feel bad for how infrequently I post.  Thanks to all our faithful readers and hello to all our friends and family in far corners of the earth…

Here’s some news/pics from the last few months.

First (and most importantly ) I am now the proud owner of a bass boat:

My brother-in law and I went in on this beauty. Lets just say it is worth what we paid for it, and we didn’t pay very much! But it’s a great little boat and we’ve had fun taking it out on various fishing excursions. So far I think we’ve had the best luck with catfish, but there’s also been lots of  bass, stripers, bluegill, and crappie. By far the most interesting thing I’ve caught was this spiny softshell turtle:

We took it out this morning and had some luck:

Striper

Flathead catfish

Double header (two fish at the same time)

Of course, it was very kind of Becka to let me buy this, especially since we don’t even own a car yet. And it is also very kind of my parents to let me use their Jeep to pull this baby around.  I was thinking today about the ironies of owning a boat before owning a car. What can I say? Priorities, Priorities. Random history: Becka owned an S-10 before we were married, but we sold it right after our honeymoon as we were preparing to leave for Australia. The only other car we’ve owned was an old Toyota Corona (yes, Corona, not Corolla) that some friends in Adelaide gave us. It was probably worth about a case of Corona, but it was a fun little car that got the job done. I somehow managed to lose the only picture we had of it, but this is a pretty good likeness, except ours was faded yellow with rust highlights.

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I’m still looking for a job, which is about as fun as you would expect it to be. I was feeling pretty good about my resume, but there’s just not a whole lot out there right now, especially if you limit your search to one geographic location. After a few months of  spending hours every day looking at various internet postings, I can confidently say that truck drivers, RNs, and not a whole lot else are in high demand. But it has been an interesting process, thinking about what I would enjoy doing out of what is available, and what the criteria should be (money? geographic location? future advancement? vocation? grad school compatibility?) Is it unreasonable to expect to find something that pays well,  I enjoy doing, is close to family, and would allow me to study? Probably. I would have to get extremely lucky. And as the weeks pass, it seems like I will likely have to take whatever I can get if I limit my search to one area. Of course, the irony in all this is that I could walk down to McDonald’s and take the lowest paying job and still make twice what we were making before. No exaggeration. I would probably be miserable and slip into a coma of existential despair, but still.  It’s a good reminder that I would much rather be making this transition now, rather than five or ten years down the road. We’ve been through enough changes over the years that I know that it’s the in-between stages, the transitions, that are always the hardest. And I also know that this progression (which hopefully has meaning and is leading somewhere), at least for us, would be impossible without the help and support of family. I’m always aware that our lives would be very different if we didn’t have their love and support, and it’s been nice to be home without a ‘departure date’ to some distant land looming in the near future…

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Aidan is enjoying all the possibilities that summer has brought his way. Riding his trike, swimming, building marble towers, and playing with his cousins seem to be his top priorities these days. A few pics:

Giving cousin V. a lift:

Falling asleep reading his favorite fire engine book:

Helping mom in the garden:

Summer boy:

Aidan had quite a traumatic moment the other day when the ‘Touch a Tractor’ event at a local park was canceled due to rain. He had been looking forward to it for a long time, and he took it pretty hard. Now one of the first things he asks when he wakes up is, “Mommy, will we touch a tractor today?”

Becka has been busy with various projects, and has been dutifully going to all the local garage sales to find things we need to set up house. (Our Dutch friends would be interested to know that the street sales that happen on Queen’s Day in Amsterdam happen all summer long…but on a garage-sized scale.) All in all a great summer is underway!

Total Miles: 4826

Total States: 11

Cheapest Gas: $2.39 (Oklahoma)

Most expensive gas: 3.79 (California desert)

Speeding Tickets: 0

Roadkills: We stopped counting after a hundred. And that was just Illinois, Missouri, and half of Kansas.

Tom Cruise sightings: 1 (well, he may have been wearing a mask). Our other brush with a celebrity was when we got stuck behind Alan Jackson’s tour entourage at a toll booth-which led to Becka’s confession that she once owned an Alan Jackson cd.

Worst Bathroom: Shamrock, Oklahoma at the Phillips 66 station. We stopped there in the middle of the night. I think they would be better off digging a few holes out back. They may need to soon, since two out of the three toilets were out of order.

Best Bathroom: Basspro Shops, Springfield, MO

Mike and Ike’s consumed while driving: Too many to count

Starbuck’s stops: Maybe 3 or 4. This number is low because I brought some nice coffee along and brewed it myself whenever we weren’t driving.

Best view: Laguna Beach, CA, and the Utah desert. I think the beach was definitely one of Aidan’s highlights:

Worst view: The Inland Empire. At least the smog isn’t too bad this time of year.

Most surreal moment: Staying with total strangers in a house by a cemetery in the middle of nowhere in Kansas.

Best Lunch Deal: $5 footlongs at Subway

Questionable Logic/Marketing Fail/Sad Commentary on our Society:

Worth the stop: Denver surprised us in a lot of ways. It snowed and sleeted while we were driving in, but the next day was in the 60s and sunny. We stayed with a wonderful older couple who spoiled us, and hung out with Becka’s sister who now lives there. We walked around the city center (which was beautiful). The public library was amazing, and there was a free museum across the street. I accidentally left my water bottle in a park bench in the city center, and when I came back a few hours later, it was still there. But one sad thing: there were literally hundreds of homeless people hanging around the city center.

Most redeeming moment: We forgot to bring any books with us, which we instantly regretted. Then I found a Michel Foucault book at Goodwill for $1.99, and Becka found the entire James Herriot series at her parent’s place.

Biggest disappointment: we picked out a really nice camping site by a lake in Arizona, but when we showed up, it was closed for the winter. Aidan took it pretty hard (we had been telling him the whole time we would set up a tent by the water-two of his favorite things). But we still had a good time an alternative place:

Weddings Attended: 1

Successful Dental Operations: 1 (thanks Beth!)

Trips to In n’ Out: 3

Best meal: The Market Broiler (thanks Greg). But all the amazing Mexican food we ate was a close second.

Worst meal: a $1.50 polish dog from Costco. I don’t know what was in that thing, but I still felt queasy four hours later.

Best Aidan moment: While camping in Arizona, Becka pointed out all the stars to him. I asked him if he could count them all, and he looked up and said, “One, Two, Free” over and over again.

Rudest Strangers: The employees at the New Mexico welcome center. Not very welcoming.

Kindest Stranger: An elderly man offered to pay for our meals “because that boy of yours is such a nice little fella.” That made us feel pretty good!

Most played song while driving: Southside of Heaven by Ryan Bingham

Best way to pass the time in the car: This American Life. This is one of our favorite podcast/radio programs…

Most Disturbing: Listening to hours of right wing talk radio while driving through the heartland. Apparently fear sells better than corn.

I could’ve cried moment: When we decided to drive straight through on the way back after spending one night in Arizona. We started driving and less than an hour later, our ancient ipod’s battery died, with 24+ hours left to go. This is the first time it occurred to me that maybe it is worth spending $30 on a car charger. When I got home, I discovered that they don’t cost $30, but you can get one for a few bucks. Man. But it was kind of nice driving in silence through those vast stretches of New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma.

Best part of the whole trip: getting to see all our friends and family!

We are in California, and will be for at least another week. We’ve been moving around a lot, so posting a lot hasn’t been an option. But here’s some pictures from the last few weeks:

Just before we left, we (or I should say Becka!) broke down and gave Aidan a haircut. Here’s what he looked like before we cut it:

This is in-process. Becka cut it herself on the front porch:

We took our time driving to California. The Mennonite Your Way program was a great experience-I’ll write more about it later. We stayed one night in Kansas with a nice family and then stayed with an older couple in Denver for a few days while we visited Becka’s sister and explored the city. It snowed the first day we were there, and was in the 60s the next day. The Denver Capitol:

Aidan really liked these giant cows:

Driving into Las Vegas:

A family wedding in California:

Aidan taking a break:

Becka’s parents are moving. We stayed at the old house for a few days and boxed some of our things up. It seems very empty! The end of an era, I guess. Becka taking a break, while Aidan plays in a box:

We’ve had some beautiful weather. Some hot days, but mostly mild and sunny. Aidan has been asking to go to a park every day:

If I had to pick one word to describe Aidan these days: busy. He’s always on the move; walking/running/falling/climbing/eating/drinking-or some combination of all these verbs. He usually has at least one toy, blanket, or sippy cup in tow with him as he bumbles around the house. He loves to explore, take baths, throw things down the stairs (and then follow them), dance, play with cars, trucks, or trains, and open/close doors.  His favorite, however, is definitely going “vroom” (any outing in the car).

He’s speaking so much more than I imagined he would at this age and has an uncanny way of communicating through his tone of voice, even if he doesn’t have the right words. The other day I was putting on my makeup and he tottered into the bathroom and pointed to something on the counter. He babbled something in an inquisitive tone that made me wonder if he had just asked, “What’s that?” So I told him, “That’s my deodorant”. He then preceded to babble something else that sounded like, “I want to see.” So I picked him up to let him take a closer look. “Ooooh!” he said. But it was the look of satisfaction that really touched me! He was pleased that he had made himself understood. When he’s not having to depend on intonation to get his meaning across, Aidan is using real words. Some of his favorites are: abple (Apple), trat (train), truck, car, vroom! (what he says everytime he sees his Grandpa), cracker, Gordon, (his favorite Thomas the Train character), hi, grapa & mah-maw (grandpa & grandma), foof (flower), thoos (auntie Sus or shoes), mema/eeda (emma and edith, his cousins), and the ever constant “oooh!.”  This is one of our favorites; he has about 15 different meanings and sounds for “oh”, ranging from extreme excitement to a statement of disappointment. It’s not uncommon for him to wander over to the refrigerator and say “aiya” (his word for water or milk) while trying to open it, or to the pantry and say “cracker”. He loves to share, but hasn’t quite gotten the concept of letting someone keep what he gives them! Just yesterday he put his pacifier in Chris’ mouth, smiled, and then yanked it out and put it back into his own mouth!

Aidan also loves to be around people. He squeals with excitement when he sees his cousins or other kids his age. If he finds himself at home with no visitors he goes to the door and bangs on it while shouting, “Out!” If he’s lucky enough to go on an outing, he expects every stranger to talk to him. He watches people approach him while on a walk and if they keep on going without greeting him, he usually turns to follow them, all while saying “hi! hi!” with his lower jaw thrust downward and a funny added syllable to the word. He’s a charming little boy! Here’s some recent pics:

Climbing on a chair (right after I took this he fell over backwards, then climbed right back on):

In mid “ohh”:

In his favorite (ok, maybe it’s ours) hat:

Playing with Thomas trains at Art Mart:

Grandma gave Aidan a Thomas toothbrush that plays music. He loves to dance while brushing his teeth:

It’s been a while since we posted on anything on Aidan, so here’s a recap of the last month:

Frist, we celebrated his birthday (Dec. 24) a little early with family in Illinois.

Becka designed and made a great cake:

It was his first taste of cake, and he definitely enjoyed it:

A family picture from that day:

Then we drove from Illinois to California, making it just in time to celebrate Christmas with Becka’s family. Aidan didn’t seem to mind the long hours in the car; he’s definitely a traveling boy:

And of course, we had to make the mandatory stop at Bass Pro:

We had a great time in California catching up with family and enjoying the warmer temperatures.

Aidan with his cousin Anastasia:

Becka and her sisters:

We found a great deal on a baby backpack, which allowed us to include Aidan in one of our favorite pastimes: hiking.

While we were in California, we stayed at Becka’s grandma’s house. She had nice, thick carpet through the whole house-something Aidan has never experienced before. We thought he might build up some confidence with his walking, and sure enough, by the time we left, he was regularly taking two or three steps, and occasionally more. After we returned to Illinois, he seemed to lose some of his confidence; he would only walk around if someone was holding his hand. But last Friday, something “clicked” and he just took off (if you’re viewing through Reader, you may have to click through to see the video):