We're off to Dallas

The girls from my SMU small group that are still in Dallas... plus the new additions!
Top: Meg, Ashleigh (preggers); Bottom: Randi, baby McKinley, Ashley, me, baby LE

The weekend after our trip up to Door County, we packed up and flew down to Dallas for our friend's wedding. My good friend, Ashley, let us stay with her and her husband in their chalet in the Park Cities. They have a really lovely home, and we couldn't have asked for better hospitality.

Even though it was a quick trip, and we would have liked to have done more and seen more people, I did manage to get in some girl time with my old SMU small group girls (at least the ones that are still in Dallas). It was sweet to have LE meet baby McKinley, though LE clearly did not like her. We had a quick, girlie luncheon on Ashley's back porch before John, LE, and I headed off to the airport.

Ted and Kimberly's wedding was a lot of fun, especially since one of my small group friends, Meg, was there, too. John was a groomsman in the wedding, which meant that I got some good one on one time with Meg while John was off doing groomsman things.

Even though Dallas is a little too uppity for me, I truly enjoy visiting. It represents my college years, the great fellowship shared, and memories that I fondly remember. It's always a trip I look forward to, and I wish I could afford to go back more.

Randi and her baby McKinley

LE really loves McKinley, can't you tell?

We tried again a little bit later. No luck. Look at her pointing. 

LE at her first trip to SMU

Saturday & Sunday in Door County

I left out this photo from Friday night. LE was tuckered out and rested
in Grunkle John's arms while Graunty Kay finished making dinner.

Well, despite our hopes, Saturday turned out to be a gloomy day. It rained all morning, as forecasted, but then it continued to rain on throughout the afternoon and evening as well, which was not forecasted. This was no real surprise to me, of course, since this was my third trip up to Door County and this was the third trip that it was rainy and cold. At least this time it wasn't super cold like in the past.

Watching the chipmunk stuff his cheeks
(or, if you ask Grunkle John, it was the ground squirrel)

The five of us (Graunty Kay, Grunkle John, John, LE, and me) went to breakfast at the Sandpiper in Bailey's Harbor. They have pancakes as large as a platter. John and I split one of their meals, which included two eggs over medium, two outrageously large pancakes, hashbrowns, and bacon. I can't believe any one human being could eat that on his own. 

Naturally, we did what anyone would do in a food coma on a rainy day: napped. Admittedly, our nap was the shortest because LE wasn't in the mood to sleep. John, LE, and I headed out to Fish Creek to visit Julie,  John's second cousin twice removed (or whatever she is; I can't get it right and John corrects me every time). Julie runs a kitchen gadget shop there, and it's always impossible to leave there without realizing your "need" for a new gadget. It was good to see her and to have LE meet another relative.

We drove to Wilson's Restaurant & Ice Cream Parlor in Ephraim. Wilson's has been around in one way or another since 1906, and remains a cute place to stop for lunch with soda-fountain whimsy with juke boxes on every table (albeit they were all out of order this time around). John and I shared a reuben and a scoop of chocolate peanut butter ice cream.  Even though the one scoop was more than enough for the two of us, we somehow managed to finish it. We wouldn't want to waste, right? Apparently, we don't want a waist, either. (That was bad, I know.)

This photo would have been cooler if the new cars weren't there.

We spent the rest of the day lounging at The Little One, working on Kay's obnoxiously unfulfilling puzzle, reading, and doing a lot of sitting before getting ready to leave the cabin once more for the night to get an early dinner at Coyote Roadhouse on Kangaroo Lake. We finished the night off with vanilla ice cream and a freshly made cherry pie with cherries from Door County (a.k.a. the key to my heart).

On Sunday morning, we had a lazy morning recovering from the busy weekend. We were really tired despite the fact that we didn't do much. I know that I was tired because LE wasn't sleeping very well there, and now that I think about it, I guess John was tired because he was still recovering from working nights the week before.


Sunday turned out to be a gorgeous day! John, LE, and I drove out to where the Reis' tend to vacation-- White Fish Bay on the Lake Michigan side of the peninsula. That's where LE got her first experience of the beach. John took her for a long walk down the beach while I read in solitude. The beach only had a handful of people there since it was the weekend after Labor Day and school just started back.

LE was thrilled to be there. Can't you see the excitement in her face?

Toes in the sand. Ahhhhh. 

We drove up the east side to the Yum Yum Tree, a candy store that has a bathtub filled with taffy.
We stop there every time we go up to Door County. 

Then we cut across the peninsula to Sister Bay to stop to take pictures (but not eat) at Al Johnson's,
a restaurant that's famous for its goats on the roof.

Across the street is the marina, which is beautiful. I think Sister Bay is my favorite place in Door County.

We took one family photo at the cabin before heading out.

LE helped us pack up the last bag in the trunk.

It was a great, relaxing trip. Thanks for letting us stay with you, John and Kay!

Door County (continued)

After the orchard, we continued our drive through Green Bay and onto Door County. It was a beautiful day to drive.

Hi Door County!

Are we there yet?

We made it! This is the name of the cabin.

It was just dusk when we arrived. We said hello to Graunty Kay and Grunkle John (great aunty = graunty, great uncle = grunkle). LE played for a few minutes on the ground.

Wasn't much longer before LE, John, and I walked the few feet from the cabin to Green Bay.

LE rides in style.

Goodnight, sun! We'll see you tomorrow.

Picking Apples

LE is coming up a little shorter than she actually is.
She's over 2 feet now and 5 1/2 months old.

John's aunt and uncle invited us up to stay the weekend with them in Door County, the peninsula in Wisconsin that juts out between Green Bay and Lake Michigan. Each year, John and Kay rent a cabin and stay for a couple of months. This was LE's first trip up there and first time to meet "Grunkle John" and "Graunty Kay."

Friday was a  b e a u t i f u l  day to drive up, and we had a fun time stopping at an orchard on the way. It was the first day of the season to pick your own, which meant we got the best choice for apples, and, since it was Friday, very few people were there. Perfect! More about Door County to come. For now, enjoy the pics!

Oops! One fell.

Buyer's Remorse

After leaving work yesterday afternoon for the last time in the foreseeable future (read: I quit.), I felt a little unbalanced. I can't turn off that part of my brain quite yet. Checking my work email had become part of my opening the computer routine.

The routine went something like this: Check Gmail. Check work mail. Check Facebook. Check blogs that I read. Check Gmail. Check work email. Do things I set out to do.

For the last three days, checking my work email was easy. I had whittled my emails down to zero, had already announced to the external people that I work with that I was leaving, and the internal people already knew as well. I was only getting a handful of emails a day for the last week, which gave me time to wrap up all of my outstanding projects. Still, it stung a little to click on the "M3 email" bookmark, type in my password without thinking, and have the screen tell me that my password is invalid. I felt a tinge of buyer's remorse. Buying something you can barely afford and being jobless both leave you with less money in the bank and wondering if you did the right thing. I don't think it helped that John is out of town for 6 more days.

As Wheel of Fortune played in the background (Insert John's groan and exaggerated eye roll here.), I thought through it a little more.  I've told so many people already and I'll say it again... it was hard to leave work because I worked for a company where I felt valued. I may not have been doing my dream job, but I enjoyed the people I worked with internally and externally; I worked well with my manager; I felt pride in my results; and I knew what I was doing. It wasn't new anymore. It was comfortable. Now, without my crutch, I'm left a little exposed, and I feel as though I've lost a bit of purpose.

When I got to that realization, I stopped for a minute. Ah ha! That's just it. I was finding my value in the wrong place. Though it's a little strange, I am thankful to be able to have this time out and get things back on track.

So, today is Thursday, the day after my last day. I still haven't removed my work email bookmark from all of my browsers. I still have to intentionally skip over clicking on it. It still hasn't fully sunk in that I no longer work at M3.

Today has been the perfect day after quitting. I have zero responsibilities other than to tend to LE. Like I said, John is out of town, which means I don't have to think about what's for dinner.  LE slept in until 7:05. Ok, actually she woke up earlier than that but thankfully she can entertain herself for about 30-40 minutes by taking out and putting back in her pacifier and just looking at the fan, her feet, and her hands. Then, she spent about 40 minutes playing on her play mat by herself while I had cereal, picked up, and got coffee going. She ate and then shortly thereafter we were both ready for the morning nap. Two hours later LE woke us up. We went through my computer routine sans work email. We spent way too much time reading blogs on everything from home management, to photography, to cooking. We played. We lounged. It rained a pretty rain. We had a photo shoot. We lounged some more. I ate chocolate chip multigrain pancakes with locally harvested syrup for dinner. LE took another nap. I blogged.

I still get little pangs of work thoughts here and there, but it's nice to know that that is all for someone else to worry about now. Look at the sweet face of the little love in the photo below. Who would trade their time with her for work if they didn't have to?

LE at 5 months and 11 days