Drowning in Fulfillment...

You might be wondering where I was. Or more likely, you’re busy and don’t give a second thought to why I haven’t updated in over a week. Regardless, following is an explanation of my absence.

“I’VE BITTEN OFF MORE THAN I CAN CHEW!”

Since I last wrote I became a “columnist,” (at least temporarily), we spent Fall Break in Chicago, I became a “staff photographer,” (maybe even more temporary) and I’ve been photographing more children than I knew existed. ‘Tis the season, and it’s not even THE season.

Several (three people) asked how the whole columnist thing came about. The short version is, I got annoyed with the lifestyle columnist in our weekly community paper. “The paper” comes in everyone’s mail; so in essence, we’re all forced to subscribe. It isn’t exactly the WSJ. ANYWAY…I threw caution to the wind, e-mailed the editor, and sheepishly directed him to this blog. Viola, 48 hours later they went to press with my first column.

At some point during those 48 hours we left for Chicago. (An hour and a half late, because I was writing a column and waiting for the dryer to churn out enough clean socks for our family.) We met some friends from college and their kids at LegoLand and then went out to dinner. We stayed in Schaumburg that night…The kids were fascinated by the indoor pool…I was repeatedly admonished for forgetting to bring their goggles…I had to share a bed with Meredith…long story.

Saturday we drove into the city and went to the Shedd Aquarium. Great visit until Meredith fell in love with a stuffed beluga whale and followed us around sobbing for the next 45 minutes. We waited all day to see their new animal encounters show. We went a half an hour early to get seats. At the start of the show, they informed us they were having technical difficulties and the show was cancelled. They offered to bring out the dolphins, whales, penguins and birds anyway. The animals all revolted, missed their marks, and perched in artificial trees that couldn’t support their weight.

When we left the aquarium, it was pouring down rain and we were parked a long way away. Everyone but me changed clothes in a parking garage and we went out for pizza in the middle of the afternoon. After stuffing ourselves, the boys went to the Lego Store on Michigan Ave. Alex eats, sleeps, and drinks around his Lego building schedule. Meredith and I walked to The American Girls Store.

According to Meredith, “Kit forgot to pack her shoes.” We couldn’t have Kit padding around the dirty streets barefoot. (I’m expected to ignore the fact that Kit’s plastic legs lack skeletal muscles.) Kit NEEDED shoes.

I was prepared for another beluga whale incident. I have a hard time controlling myself in that store, so I really don’t expect a four year old not to go bananas with want. Meredith couldn’t have been better. I told her we would be getting one outfit and for the most part, she stuck to it, much to my surprise.

As we were walking to the store she said, “I think I might get Kit an outfit AND a nightgown. She needs pajamas.” I explained that Daddy would get mad. We could only buy ONE outfit. She looked at me, wrinkled her nose and said, “We can keep a secret,” while gesturing between us. Brandon closed three accounts when I recounted the story.

We took the kids to Orange for brunch before leaving town. I had eaten there one other time and it was good and most importantly, kid friendly. I’m an Ann Sather’s loyalist, so it’s hard for me to break away. (You’re shocked I skipped cinnamon rolls aren’t you Beckman?!) However, Orange his “fruishi,” which is “sushi” made out of fruit. If you added a side of blue cheese, you would mesh all of Alex’s favorite foods into one treat. I didn’t want him to miss it.

We left town after brunch and made it home well in time to carve pumpkins and trick or treat. I’m going to annoy a lot of people, but we didn’t hit ANY traffic the entire trip. We did not sit idle on any freeway at any time. It was amazing and somewhat eerie. I kept knocking on the faux wood of the dash every time I mentioned how minimal the traffic was.

We trick or treated with the Staperts. The kids raked in the candy. Someone had a full bar set up on their driveway! I had a rum and Coke and a renewed enthusiasm for Halloween. Afterwards, we built a fire in the driveway, made s’mores, and drank cider with the neighbors. The plan was to come back to our house and let the kids trick or treat on our street, but they all decided they’d rather play football!

This week has just been crazy. I’ve written another column and photographed several events and people for “the paper.” I’m not sure it’s going to work out very well with my schedule. They also want me to write about actual news, and I’m not sure that’s my strong suit. I told the editor I’m much closer to Bombeck than Woodward and that may not be what the paper needs. We’ll see…I’m not going to hire a cleaning lady just yet. Although I NEED to!

In between unpacking, laundry, shuffling kids, writing, and editing, I’ve crammed in several photo sessions. Everyone wants Christmas card photos. It’s great for business, but not my sanity. I’ve never been this backed up with editing and I don’t like making clients wait for their images. It’s a good problem to have, I just need to manage my time better and keep the bowl of M&M’s out of arm’s reach.

This coming week promises to be more of the same, so updates might be few and far between, but I’m working on it, I promise! Bear with me!