It's Christmas again???

I'm beginning to think that I live in one of the strings in the space-time continuum that's seriously warped making the duration between 2 points in time faster than everyone else's string.  How else do I explain the fact that I just wrote a year-end summary and here I am again.  Deja vu!   

Let me just say that there are tons of gratuitous bragging in this blog post.  You are more than welcome to stop reading now.  Wait - MERRY CHRISTMAS!  Ok, now you can stop reading because I've officially greeted you and now I expunged myself of any guilt.

Let me just start with the nasty fact that running our lives requires tons of lists - actual lists, mental lists, outlook lists, you name it...  Here's a sample of the Jeltema week from the kids' schedule's perspective:

-          Every Day:

o   On the counter next to refrigerator is a 1^st grade to 2^nd grade workbook and his multiplication worksheet.  Please have Garrett work on the pages I’ve marked with a sticky note.

o   Please have Sophie & Audrey do their homework as soon as they get home. 

o   Please have Sophie practice her viola as soon as she is done with her homework.

-          Monday

o   Garrett’s dismissal is at 2:25 pm;  Sophie & Audrey’s dismissal time is at 3:00 pm. 

o   Audrey has soccer practice at 5 pm.  Please have her dressed and ready for pick up by 4:30 pm.  Please have her eat  a healthy snack prior to practice and have her bring 1 bottle of Gatorade and 1 bottle of water.

-          Tuesday

o   Garrett’s dismissal is at 2:25 pm;  Sophie & Audrey’s dismissal time is at 3:00 pm. 

o   Sophie has tennis lessons at 4 pm at Covenant Hills Park (where you pick up Garrett).  Please have her dressed, bring her racket and a bottle of Gatorade.  Please drop her off at practice and pick her up at 5 pm.

o   Garrett has soccer practice at 5 pm.  Please have him dressed and ready for pick up by 4:30 pm.  Please have him eat  a healthy snack prior to practice and have her bring 1 bottle of Gatorade.

o   Audrey has soccer practice at 4 pm.  Please have her dressed and ready for pick up by 3:30 pm.  Please have her eat  a healthy snack prior to practice and have her bring 1 bottle of Gatorade.

-          Wednesday

o   Garrett’s dismissal is at 1:05 pm;  Sophie & Audrey’s dismissal time is at 3:00 pm. 

o   Audrey has soccer practice at 5 pm.  Please have her dressed and ready for pick up by 4:30 pm.  Please have her eat  a healthy snack prior to practice and have her bring 1 bottle of Gatorade and 1 bottle of water.

o   Sophie has viola lessons at 6 pm.  Please have her ready for pick up by 5:30 pm.

-          Thursday

o   Garrett’s dismissal is at 2:25 pm;  Sophie & Audrey’s dismissal time is at 3:00 pm. 

o   Audrey has performance training at 4:45 pm.  Please have her dressed and ready for pick up by 4:15 pm.  Please have her bring 1 bottle of water.  Her carpool will pick her up.

o   Garrett has soccer practice at 5 pm.  Please have him dressed and ready for pick up by 4:30 pm.  Please have him eat  a healthy snack prior to practice and have her bring 1 bottle of Gatorade.

-          Friday

o   Garrett’s dismissal is at 2:25 pm;  Audrey’s dismissal time is at 3:00 pm.  

 o   All the kids have art class at 7 pm.

Yep - OCD level list, right?  I haven't even shared our travel itinerary and our babysitting itinerary.  Folks who've seen these feel nothing but pity for the poor folks that have to share in this experience with me. 

So aside from the daily list, what else transpired?

I now measure time in pop-culture metrics.  2012 brought us the annoyingly catchy "Call Me Maybe" that my soccer carpool insists on singing again and again in the car.  For variety, Audrey and her teammates would sing it as cats with different "meow" sounds, and the as different breeds of dogs.  You thought the song was annoying?  Try listening to a bunch of 10 year old girls pretending to be chihuahuas and terriers singing this song.  At least Garrett's carpool had better taste.  They sang their broken-hearts out to Adele as only 7 year old boys can.  Yep - 2012 made me and official soccer mom, with both Audrey and Garrett in club soccer, evenings and weekends were spent shuttling them from one practice, scrimmage or game to another.   Our carpool soundtrack jumped from Flo Rida, Ingrid Michelson, Muse, AWOL Nation, Adele, Imagine Dragons, Coldplay, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Airborne Toxic Event, etc...  And the kids inevitably knew all the lyrics to every song without the help of Shazam.  I swear they must have photographic auditory memory (if such a concept actually existed).  

Oh but I forget the most important thing.  In between soccer carpool rides, Audrey and Garrett are truly developing as competitive soccer players.  Audrey successfully moved from an 8v8, defensive game to an 11v11 offensive game.  Her coach has helped build her confidence by putting her in various positions and she's become quite a well-rounded player.  Garrett still has moments on the field when he shows his age and loses focus.  But when his head's in it, look out!  Van Persie, Rooney, Silva, Kompany, Ya ya Toure, Alex Morgan, and Hope Solo are now names that are mentioned around the house.   

Now, instead of John and I going to arena concerts to enjoy the latest bands, we've been attending LA Galaxy games with the kids.  Not that I'm complaining.

Sophie went from a recreational viola player to a serious player, having played with at least 4 different orchestras throughout 2012. Being the Type A perfectionist that she is, she couldn't handle it the first time she went down a chair.  I don't know where she gets this drive from, I'm guessing it's something she picked up from the vitamins she's been taking.  That's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

Sophie and Audrey are now both GATE students - Audrey having been tricked into taking the test one Saturday morning.  She thought we were just going to Starbucks.  I mean, I did have her just put on her pretend-Uggs (because I'm too cheap to buy her the real ones) over her PJs and then dropped her off with a pencil.  Preparation is overrated, you know.  Sophie got into honors orchestra by showing up 2 minutes before her call time and doing her thing.  Meanwhile,tons of kids dressed to the nines were practicing in front of their stage moms for hours in the rehearsal room. 

Garrett now has a scar on his forehead when he went up against a bat and lost. His first season as a baseball player and he's got a scar to prove his tough.  

John did a lot of running this year.  Not from me, you naysayers out there!  He actually ran a half-marathon (OC) and a full marathon (Long Beach).  Most mornings, he was out running before the sun was even up.  He must have picked up about $30 worth of coins along his runs. 

We didn't have any international trips this year.  However, the Sterns gave us a very good reason to visit a number of New England States.  We took "ADVENTURE TIME" to a new level, visiting New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and New York in a 2 week period.  If you count the train ride between Boston and New York along with the trip to Ellis Island, we actually also hit Rhode Island, Connecticut and New Jersey.   I could give you guys highlights to our trips but then I'd lose you and you'd think, "Man! When did Gerlie get boring?".   If you are truly my friend, then you'd have already acted the voyeur that I know you are and looked at all our pictures on Gerlie's Facebook.  You'd know from all our FB check-ins that we went to tons of places.  John and I did reach our 15th year anniversary this year.  We went back to where it all started on Catalina Island at the Inn at Mt. Ada (aka the Wrigley Mansion).

Professionally, John and I are still loving what we do. More grays pepper our remaining hair.  More lines mark our seasoned faces.  Our kids continue to entertain, amaze and test us on a daily basis.  Much as I'd love to jump on to another string where time travels slower, I wouldn't change a thing about our 2012.