Way Back Whensday-November 2009

I know that a TON of stuff went un-blogged during my year hiatus.  I will use Wednesdays to play a little bit of catch-up for you all.

Maddox was about 2 years and 2 months old when I took this video of her.  I love her little voice, and it is SO funny if you watch her face when she flips the cards over, she opens her eyes really wide!  I knew she knew most of her letters, but I was surprised how many she got right!  There is a longer video but I had to cut it so it wouldn't take forever to upload.

Just a few days later Marshall returned home from his deployment to Iraq.  He actually got home in the middle of the night, so we let Maddox sleep and she saw him first thing in the morning.  They built a block tower, which is one of her favorite things to do.

I made sure we had some of his favorite foods at home for him to enjoy!

There are steaks up under those pork chops, Starbucks Frappacinos, and protein shakes!

Beef jerky, and spiced rum!

Maddox fell out of her crib that morning, because she tried to climb over the edge for the very first time. So, Marshall took the side off and put up the bed rails to turn it into a toddler bed.  Maddox really liked it!

A happy family, just loving being together again!!

In memory of Sydney Minter

Theme song for this post: Alabama's "Angel's Among Us".

I hate that this is the first post I've written in so long. I don't have a good reason for why I stopped blogging last year, except that Marshall came home from his deployment and life got crazy and busy again and I wasn't on the computer very much. However, I know with the new baby and our impending move overseas I will HAVE to blog more to keep family and friends informed. I promise I will try.

I just found out on facebook about the passing of Syd Minter, who was the librarian at the school where I taught in Newport News, VA for the last 2 school years. I had no idea she was even sick, apparently she had a very short fight with cancer, and sadly- lost. Here is a link to her obituary: Sydney Minter

Sydney was not only a colleague of mine, but a friend. Sometimes I would just walk by the library to see if she was in her office for a chat. She was the coordinator for the Battle of the Books team from our school and I would help her by reading a few of the books on the list and writing out practice questions for the kids. Sydney always wore the most beautiful funky colored outfits to school, and I specifically remember her "pocketbook". It was a purse that she made out of a book by removing the pages, sewing fabric along the spine, and attaching a handle....for a librarian that is SO COOL! Haha!

Syd also opened up her home to our family one year for Easter when we couldn't drive home to NC. She said there would be plenty of families there with kids, and she would have treats for them. When we got there we realized that her daughter-in-law worked where Maddox went to daycare and our kids were friends- such a surprise! Syd arranged an Easter Egg hunt around the house for the children, which was so thoughtful. Here's a picture of Maddox and Marshall looking for eggs in Syd's front yard:

Sydney went with some of my students to the All-City Orchestra auditions one year when I couldn't attend because I was already going to a wedding. A few of my Orchestra kids were also in the Junior Honor Society that she was a sponsor of, or in Battle of the Books- I know the kids are just heartbroken. I read some of the posts on the online guestbook, and some of them are from my former students. I wish I was there to give them a hug.

I'm really sad that I'm not going to be able to attend her Memorial Service on Wednesday. It's just so far of a drive and I'd have to take Mav with me, stop for feedings, etc. Still, it would be so nice to see everyone from school, let them see Maverick, and pay my respects- it's just not feasible at this point. I'll close with one more story of Sydney.

Right after Marshall left for his deployment last year there was a shooting at the base where he was in Iraq. I was in between classes and got on the computer and the story popped up on MSNBC: "5 killed in a shooting at Camp Liberty" (or something like that). Someone went into the stress clinic and started firing, killing a handful of people. I knew in my head that Marshall was fine, he had no reason to be in that clinic. But then my heart started racing. I hadn't heard from him. What if he was there? What if he just happened to be walking by? What if the uniforms were going to show up at school to tell me my husband was dead? I started sweating, my heart was pounding, my hands were shaking and I ran out of my classroom and down the hall to the library- straight to Sydney's office. I was FREAKING OUT. She knew exactly what to do. She had me sit in her chair, she got me a glass of water and listened to me. She called the office and got someone to cover my next class. She talked me down from a ledge that day and saw a side of me that not many people do. I finally did hear from Marshall later on that day, and of course he was fine. He told me to stop watching the news. I know I told her "thank you"....but it was not enough. Thank you Sydney for what you did for me, what you did for our kids, and for being you. I will remember you fondly the rest of my life.

I hate you cancer.