Runny noses

We've been plagued with the late winter/early spring bad cold. First EPM, then IEM, then EPM again, now me. Guess we'll wait and see when Zack gets it.

We've also been plagued with the weepies about having to leave here. Well, at least I've been afflicted. I don't remember being this sad when I was about to graduate from college...a much bigger transition for certain

So I don't really have that much to post. We are all flying down to Memphis this weekend to househunt. I hope we find something; the market is pretty slim right now.

Then only one more week of official Fellowshipping until the graduation on April 17th. Most everyone is staying in A2 at least through May but I know that it won't be the same once the Wallace House keys are officially turned in.

This weekend is interview weekend up at Wallace House. It seems like just yesterday that Zack flew up here and we all came down with the stomach bug.

The photos are from the other day. I love the one of EPM and IEM holding hands. They do that all of the time, completely unprompted. The other is of IEM and his little friend in our neighborhood.

Thanks for stopping by.

I'm Number 779!!!!

Out of more than 3 million NCAA brackets entered on espn.com!!!!

I have 14 of the Sweet 16 and am leading the Wallace House pool.

The secrets to my success? Don't pay one bit of attention to the college basketball season and don't listen to Zack (haha). Also, filling out a bracket at midnight helps, too. Hey, I might win $10,000 through espn.com so stay tuned!

A quick update...EPM fell two weekends ago and bit a huge chomp into her tongue that requrired an emergency room visit (her inaugural one). It's healing OK but she then caught a febrile virus and was sick all last week.

On Thursday, I flew down to The Ham to surprise my mom on her 60th birthday. I really do believe that she was surprised and we had a great weekend. There was a lunch for her on Friday and I got to spend the day out with her and my sister on Saturday before flying back to Detroit early yesterday.

We are busy planning our trip down to Memphis in a few weeks. Looks like all of us are going to fly down for four days so that Zack will be with me when we househunt. Hope that more comes on the market because it looks pretty grim right now.

Thanks for stopping by.

It's almost 'that' time

Yes, time for us to think about leaving A-Squared. I get sad just even thinking about thinking about it so I'm going to stop.

And, yes, the blog is still active (thanks for the concerned emails). Last week was just a bit "off" due to Zack being on spring break, both of us trying to live back in this timezone and the kids being the kids. Much more normal week this week.

I hate to think about leaving (here I go again) but I did start thinking the other day about all the amazing stuff we've crammed in to this short time. I think the best lesson of all is to live more and live better...it's OK to tell myself that the laundry can wait another few hours and to head to the park. Or that the kids won't hate me someday for feeding them reheated leftovers for the third time so that we can go on a long hike as a family. Of course, I wish that I could do everything and still come home to a pristine house, made beds everyday and a playroom that looked like something out of Pottery Barn Kids but oh well.

So in case you think that this year has been nothing but trips to Trader Joe's and the Y, think again...

We've been to Michigan hockey and football games. We've hiked through The Arb. We've seen snow in October and now into March but we also saw 50+ degree days in January. We've picked apples at least twice and pumpkins once. We've frequented the Farmers Market and eaten quarts of freshly picked raspberries. We've picked pears off of our neighbors' tree and eaten them, raw and cooked.

We saw Jeremy and Amy and little Z on the way up to A2. We've visited Lake Champlain, Walloon Lake, Torch Lake and Lake Michigan. We've been to Petoskey, Boyne Valley, Torch Lake, Traverse City. We've driven to Toronto and ridden the subways and gone up the CN Tower. I went to Chicago with my girlfriends from high school. Breen and Jeanie came up to see us, as did Mimi and Pop. We went to Birmingham and Memphis over Christmas break.

Zack and I have been to Buenos Aires and its environs. We've been to Amsterdam, Istanbul and Ankara. We've eaten more beef than I care to mention and also more celery root (a favorite side dish in Turkey).

We've seen The Royal Shakespeare Company (twice for me), heard the entire score of Handel's "Messiah," seen John Prine live (as well as several other awesome acts at the Ann Arbor Folk Festival), sat front row for the Joshua Bell concert. And how could we forget the Michigan Men's Glee Club.

We've been to more parks in Ann Arbor, including our beloved Maryfield Wildwood Park just at the end of our block. We've been sledding in Vets Park, in the woods by our park and in our backyard. The kids went to their first official Halloween party and IEM was completely into trick-or-treating. We camped out with Jason and Jenny and kids when the power went out. We've watched a hawk in our backyard and smelled skunk outside. IEM found a mouse (deceased) in the basement and brought it upstairs for Mimi. Sawyer has window fights with the cat next door.

EPM learned to walk up here and to jabber and to talk. IEM graduated from his first two-wheeler to his second, turned four, started Montessori and walked across the street to the neighbor's house, only allowing me to watch from the curb. They've made their first border-crossing. They've both made friends here...EPM in her Childwatch program at the Y, IEM at school, in the neighborhood and through Wallace House. Both kids love to swim...IEM swims underwater now with his goggles and the little one is almost fearless.

We've worked out more, eaten better food and failed at eliminating dessert. We've had more great meals at Wallace House than I can count: Italian, Turkish, English, Caribbean, Cuban, Korean, Japanese.

We've met Mike Wallace. And lots of other people. I hear that we're going to meet Alec Baldwin in a few weeks. (Have you watched "30 Rock?" I'm telling you, I was almost crying at last evening's episode. We don't watch it regularly but when we catch it, it is almost always funny.)

I have laughed harder than I have in years...so hard that you hurt and you want to cry. There are some truly hysterical people in Zack's program. We've gone bowling, gone drinking, gone eating. I hope we've both made some lifelong friends in the program and in our neighborhood.

And Zack, I'm sure, could write an entire blog on what he's learned this year.

And lastly one thing that I've known for the past four something years but I've reinforced: When the kids are napping, get some rest. EPM's snoozing and IEM is a playdate so I'm outta here.

Thanks for stopping by.

We're baaaack!

But we may not be operating in this timezone. Actually, I've had no problems adjusting. One night's sleep and I was fine. Zack, on the other hand, is having a heck of a time. One night he could barely make it to 7. Then he was up for the day by 4. I think he's finally coming around.

So what to say about the trip? Fabulous, is the first word that comes to mind. Exhausting is another. Intriguing. Enlightening. Unique.

I must say that I would have never put Istanbul on the radar for travel. And that while I loved it, there were things about it that were a little daunting. The language, for one. I think the Turks make up their language as they go on. I could not pick out one word if our guides started speaking...it sounds like Japanese mixed with Greek mixed with Russian. Of course, it's not but that's how it sounds.

Also, I obviously stood out as a Westerner...blonde hair and blue eyes and fair skin are not common in Istanbul, unlike in Buenos Aires where I looked like just about everyone. So I was easily targeted as a tourist for people wanting money, etc. Plus, wearing a Patagonia jacket and carrying a camera probably gave me away but whatever.

And it was very interesting being in a predominantly Muslim country, especially given what we're given about Islam in the media, etc. I must say there was something very peaceful about hearing the call to prayer five times a day, broadcast out from every mosque. And being a secular country, Turkey doesn't grind to a halt during those times...far from it. To me, and I'm sure to many Turks, the call to prayer was a way to mark the time...."Oh, it must be noon." Yet while there are tons of Turks wearing designer jeans and the latest fashion, there are also lots of women in full veil and long clothing. It's an interesting culture.

The trip was sponsored by CNN Turk and the girls in the PR department organized a wonderul trip. Plus they were a lot of fun. Ozge is only 25 and with a British education behind her (the University of East Anglia and the London School of Economics). Her coworker Asu is also young and has traveled extensively abroad.

And of course it was wonderful to see our friend Baris again and to finally meet his wife Asli...aka Mrs. Baris. She's gorgeous and sweet and puts Baris in his place. He clearly adores her and he was so excited to see all of us and introduce her. Ozge told me that Baris had been telling them for weeks that he was so happy we were all coming to Istanbul, he missed us all so much and that he had more fun and learned more in his time at Michigan than anywhere else. The first night we saw him, I happened to be the first in the restaurant and he saw me and yelled "Aimee!!!" in his delightful Turkish accent before giving me a big hug. He was practically crying he was so excited to see all of us...it was very sweet. In fact, he was so happy to see us he actually attended a Fenerbahce soccer match with us, even though Fenerbahce is the archrival of his team, Galatasarayi. (Also, Fenerbahce's colors are yellow and blue and he would never buy any maize and blue apparel while here in A2 for that reason. The only Michigan shirt he wore was a grey one with blue letters. And he sent Asli, an even bigger Galatasarayi fan, a pink shirt from Michigan.)

And Amsterdam was a great buffer trip before coming home and a chance for Zack and I to explore a city together. I got to see tons of Istanbul but he was on a business trip and in meetings for much of each day. So it was nice for him to have a vacation as well.

And of course HUGE thanks go out to Mimi and Pop for coming back and taking care of the munchkins. The kids had a great time and eveyone was fine and healthy.

Thanks for stopping by.

We're baaaack!

But we may not be operating in this timezone. Actually, I've had no problems adjusting. One night's sleep and I was fine. Zack, on the other hand, is having a heck of a time. One night he could barely make it to 7. Then he was up for the day by 4. I think he's finally coming around.

So what to say about the trip? Fabulous, is the first word that comes to mind. Exhausting is another. Intriguing. Enlightening. Unique.

I must say that I would have never put Istanbul on the radar for travel. And that while I loved it, there were things about it that were a little daunting. The language, for one. I think the Turks make up their language as they go on. I could not pick out one word if our guides started speaking...it sounds like Japanese mixed with Greek mixed with Russian. Of course, it's not but that's how it sounds.

Also, I obviously stood out as a Westerner...blonde hair and blue eyes and fair skin are not common in Istanbul, unlike in Buenos Aires where I looked like just about everyone. So I was easily targeted as a tourist for people wanting money, etc. Plus, wearing a Patagonia jacket and carrying a camera probably gave me away but whatever.

And it was very interesting being in a predominantly Muslim country, especially given what we're given about Islam in the media, etc. I must say there was something very peaceful about hearing the call to prayer five times a day, broadcast out from every mosque. And being a secular country, Turkey doesn't grind to a halt during those times...far from it. To me, and I'm sure to many Turks, the call to prayer was a way to mark the time...."Oh, it must be noon." Yet while there are tons of Turks wearing designer jeans and the latest fashion, there are also lots of women in full veil and long clothing. It's an interesting culture.

The trip was sponsored by CNN Turk and the girls in the PR department organized a wonderul trip. Plus they were a lot of fun. Ozge is only 25 and with a British education behind her (the University of East Anglia and the London School of Economics). Her coworker Asu is also young and has traveled extensively abroad.

And of course it was wonderful to see our friend Baris again and to finally meet his wife Asli...aka Mrs. Baris. She's gorgeous and sweet and puts Baris in his place. He clearly adores her and he was so excited to see all of us and introduce her. Ozge told me that Baris had been telling them for weeks that he was so happy we were all coming to Istanbul, he missed us all so much and that he had more fun and learned more in his time at Michigan than anywhere else. The first night we saw him, I happened to be the first in the restaurant and he saw me and yelled "Aimee!!!" in his delightful Turkish accent before giving me a big hug. He was practically crying he was so excited to see all of us...it was very sweet. In fact, he was so happy to see us he actually attended a Fenerbahce soccer match with us, even though Fenerbahce is the archrival of his team, Galatasarayi. (Also, Fenerbahce's colors are yellow and blue and he would never buy any maize and blue apparel while here in A2 for that reason. The only Michigan shirt he wore was a grey one with blue letters. And he sent Asli, an even bigger Galatasarayi fan, a pink shirt from Michigan.)

And Amsterdam was a great buffer trip before coming home and a chance for Zack and I to explore a city together. I got to see tons of Istanbul but he was on a business trip and in meetings for much of each day. So it was nice for him to have a vacation as well.

And of course HUGE thanks go out to Mimi and Pop for coming back and taking care of the munchkins. The kids had a great time and eveyone was fine and healthy.

Thanks for stopping by.