A father's love

I should probably post some darling pictures of Ryan in his Halloween costume. I will likely do so if I can get him to wear it. It's a vintage costume of sorts...my mom bought it a "few" years back for my brother Brian when he was a bit older than Ryan. It's a classic cowboy costume with suede chaps, a suede vest and a dandy red bandana. All we've managed to get Ryan to wear is the vest, but still, it's pretty darn cute.

But what I really want to post about is what I kept thinking about last night as I tossed and turned in bed between the approximate hours of 1:30am to 4:45am.

Several weeks ago, I took a late flight into Charlotte, North Carolina. I had been working about 15 to 18 hour days for the previous week to get ready for the High Point Furniture Market. I landed in Charlotte around 11:30pm, got my luggage and boarded the shuttle to get my rental car.

I had an hour and a half drive ahead of me before I arrived at my destination (an estimated 1:30am ETA) and I was already exhausted.

As I sat on the rental car shuttle, the only other passenger started up a conversation (which I DREAD when I'm traveling...I know what you're thinking, I've become one of those snobby business travelers...well, you wouldn't be that wrong, but don't judge!).

Anyway, he began by telling me how he had just dropped off his daughter at college that morning and then his flight from New York got cancelled. The story was a bit confusing, but I understood that he ended up in Charlotte instead of his intended destination in Jacksonville.

After he landed in Charlotte, he called rental car company after rental car company with no luck. He finally found an available van and was going to get it and then drive through the night through Jacksonville.

 It was a bit of a long-winded story and I tried to be interested and ask questions here and there, but I was too tired to care much and I expect I was a bit cranky.

 

But then I asked why he was driving through the night to get to Jacksonville and his answer brought instant tears to my eyes.  "To say good-bye to my son before he leaves for Afghanistan tomorrow."

 

I felt horrible.  A few minutes earlier I was hoping he would let me close my eyes for a few minutes before I began my 1.5 hour drive.  But now I was teary as I asked him about his son.  It was his second deployment.  He had suffered an injury during his first deployment in Iraq several years ago.  He was in a convoy and the tank ahead of him was bombed and in the crazy aftermath of the bomb, he broke his leg.

 

He had come home long enough to heal and now he was headed back. 

 

And here was his dad, doing EVERYTHING he could to fly, drive, I even think he would walk all the way to Jacksonville just to hug his boy and tell him he loved him.

 

I wanted to do something for this man.  I wanted to do something for his son.  But what could I do?  If I had enough notice I would have booked him a flight using my miles, but it was too late.  I didn't have but two dollars in my wallet otherwise I would have given him some cash.

 

So I just told him my trick for staying awake while driving through the night.  Coke Zero and sunflower seeds.  Really?!  That was my offering to this man?  I'm embarrassed to even write that.

 

But as I wished him well as we departed, I told him with tears in my eyes to thank his son for all of us.

 

And then I did the best thing I knew how.  I prayed and asked for peace and protection for this loving father and his son.

ocd bolar pear

Last Saturday I took Ryan to the zoo.  We met up with Janelle and her cute kids and had a wonderful time. 

The main attraction was the new baby giraffe which, although he didn't move much, was VERY cute.

I have to say that the cooler fall weather is a great time to go see the animals.  They were all pretty active instead of lazily sleeping in the hot summer heat.

One of the highlights has to be the polar bear.  It had this funny routine it kept doing over and over.  And the steps and movements he took everytime were exactly the same.  It would dive under the water and then push off the wall and do a quick back stroke before diving under the water again.  Above is the video from below water (I hope that woman in the background got her picture!) and below is above the water.  We watched it from under the water first and then went to the upper level and watched again above the water.  Ryan kept saying over and over "look, the bolar pear!  look, the bolar pear!"

Sorry for the sideways video, but I'm techno-illiterate these days and don't know how to change it.

After we watched it for a very long time, I stalked this kid for a bit so I could give his mom this fabulous picture I took.  I'm glad the zoo officials didn't hear me say, "little boy, where is your mom?" after which I followed him through the crowd.  But if you were his mom, believe me, you would want to have the picture I took (and she was very glad to have it).  I'd upload it, but it uploads upside down.

Then we sauntered over to see the baby giraffe which was SO cute.  I wanted to get a picture of Sienna and she had to make a funny face.

 
 
 

So two thumbs up for the Hogle Zoo in the fall.

back at home

I recently returned home from a 10 day (yes TEN!) stint at the High Point Furniture Market.  For those who have not been, consider yourself blessed.

Yes, just about every furniture and home furnishings, accessories company in the country is there showing their wares.  Yes, there are beautiful designers buying, designing, blogging and now pinning everywhere you look.  And yes, there are beautiful pieces of furniture just about every where you turn.

But it is a long, long show.  And it requires a lot of standing on hard floors, talking to people from 8am to 8pm, and a lot of walking on tired feet.  I finished up our new catalog and it arrived just in the nick of time the morning the show started.  It is by far my favorite catalog - let me know if you want a copy  - you'll see why I haven't been sleeping for the past several months.

All in all, it was a great show.  Both spaces looked great if I do say so myself.

As much as I love my job and as much as I love the company I work for, it was SO nice to come home and see my little boy. 

clothes are not optional

I called my mom the day for tips to keep clothes on a little 2 year old boy.  She just laughed.  And laughed.  I still remember during my rebellious teenage years when my mom would often tell me that she hoped that I would have several children just like me.  Not that I was a child stripper, but I am providing humor to my mother when my child provides any type of challenge.
 
The latest one, as you might guess, is keeping clothes on Ryan.  Not a huge deal except when we go to get him up in the morning and he has nothing on but a diaper.  We've been experimenting with several different types of night clothing that will keep him warm through the night.  We are having various degrees of success.
 

And even when we have a night where he remains clothed, Ryan still manages a bit of escapism.  Because if you can't get the entire outfit  off before mom discovers you, just an arm will do.

Ryan and Charlotte

Ryan's cousin Charlotte doesn't live too far, but we don't seem to get together nearly enough.  But when we do, I love to watch these two together.  Not that they've bonded especially well because, well, they are two years old.  But I have high hopes for when they are a little bit older.

Look how cute these two munchkins are...

 

Last month we went to Nickel City to celebrate my brother Trent's (Charlotte's daddy) birthday.  Ryan and Charlotte rode the little merry-go-round.  They don't look like they're having a ton of fun, but believe me, they are.

 

 For some reason, they just stared at the middle pole as they went around and around. 

And then daddy got to hold both of them while they watched Trent and Sarah play some silly game.  Ryan is a little over four months older than Charlotte, but he has to be a good 10 pounds heavier.

 
It's a good thing Trent found someone to marry him who likes silly things as much as he does.  We LOVE Sarah.

And look how cute they were as babies - back when they were a few months old.



I grew up with dozens and dozens of cousins and have such great memories playing with them when I was growing up.  Now that we're having babies of our own, I love watching Ryan play with his cousins.  I know from my own life, that cousins can make the world go round.