Happy anniversary, Tara and Brody!

Love,

~Holly

Ryan in February 2007

Here are the pictures. Enjoy!

Wow. It's been nearly two weeks since Larry left already (he left Feb. 18). The time has flown. The day before he left, we went to Sarah's sons' birthday party. That was fun. You can't go wrong with cake and a bouncy castle! For dinner, Larry and I got Thai takeout. Yum.

The next day, Ryan and I took Larry to the airport in Manchester. When we dropped Larry off, Ryan didn't want to get back in the car. He thought he should be going in the airport, too!

Not long after we got home, we met Carissa and her husband and boys for lunch at McDonald's. After lunch, we went to the park to let the kids play. The park was really busy. It was nice to get out, though.

I always feel a bit lonely the day Larry leaves. I get used to having another adult in the house!

Monday morning there was a baby sitting co-op meeting at Winkie's. Ryan loves to play there! It's fun for him, and nice for me to have the social interaction with my mom friends.

Tuesday evening Michelle came over and watched Ryan for me so I could run with the Harrogate Harriers. That was nice. Usually Larry watches Ryan while I run. Thursday night Natasha did the honors.

Friday night, I watched Natasha's girls so she and her husband could go out to dinner.

Saturday (the 24th), Carissa and her son Thomas, and Ryan and I drove to York for a Days Out With Thomas the Tank Engine. Larry and I had taken Ryan to a Days Out With Thomas last Easter, at the Embsay railway. That was fun, so I was curious to see how the one at the National Railway Museum in York would be. I would have to say that overall, this one was a bit of a disappointment. The railway museum itself was pretty nice (and is free). The boys enjoyed seeing the huge engines on display. We'd definitely like to come back just to visit the museum. Unfortunately, admission for the Days Out was 18 pounds for me and Ryan, and I would have to say it wasn't worth it. (On top of that, parking was 7 pounds!) There was a decent amount of things to see and do, but it was really crowded, and there were long lines for everything. I'd say we spent a good twenty minutes or so in line to ride a Thomas train that seriously took only about two minutes to go out and back. There was a funny sign in the car we were in, telling what to do during air raids. (I will post photos soon, hopefully.) Not that air raids are funny, but it was funny that the car was so old it had that sign in it. I think by the time we'd done that, Carissa and I were getting hungry for lunch, and the boys were getting tired. We also had a bit of a time crunch, since we needed to be back in town for a baby shower. With a bit more planning, I think we maybe could have made it a slightly longer day, but as it was, it was nice to at least get out, and to see the railway museum.

I dropped Carissa and Thomas off at their house, then went back home for a bit. Not too much later, I dropped Ryan off at Natasha's then was back out at Menwith for April's baby shower (April is a co-op member). The shower was fun. It was nice to socialize and nibble on yummy food!

Sunday I baby sat at Sarah's for just a short while. Later on in the day Larry called.

Monday morning, Natasha called me. She was really sick and needed help with her girls (her husband is TDY). I went over and spent most of the day there. At Natasha's suggestion (so she could have a little peace!), I took her daughter Savannah (who is three) and Ryan on a walk. Natasha lives in a really pretty area by a stream. It was a nice day, and the kiddos enjoyed being outside. The walk was very scenic. (I took a few photos I'll post later.)

Tuesday (two days ago), Sarah organized a small get together at a play area/farm near the Leeds/Bradford airport. Sarah and her boys, Ryan and I, and Aimee and her son all went. It was a cold, windy, rainy day, so we pretty much stuck to the indoor play area. (Here's a link: http://www.emsleys-farmshop.co.uk/index.html) Ryan had a good time. There was a big sand box to play in, which meant sand - everywhere. And I do mean everywhere!

Later on in the evening, I watched Sarah's boys for about an hour.

Yesterday I went to the commissary, only to find they were out of things I needed. I knew that they got their shipments in on Wednesdays. What I didn't know, what that the shipment isn't put out on the floor until Thursday. *sigh* Oh well. So I got what I could and went home. Later in the evening, Sarah and I went to the first meeting of a new book club. That was a lot of fun! I met new people, and had a very enjoyable time!

Today it was back to the commissary. I offered to pick up some things for Natasha, so I stopped by her place on the way home. I stayed for coffee while Ryan and Savannah played. That was nice. Spouses of TDY soldiers gotta stick together! :P

Whew! I think I am actually caught up! (Except for posting photos.) Amazing! I know I've left out little things, like errand running, etc. With how hectic things have been, I'm not surprised that I've come down with a cold. Ugh. Luckily it's mild, and just in my nose. I've been taking zinc like crazy. I think it's helping.

I want to mention that I think there's a universal law that says when you have to get up for something, that's when your kiddo will want to sleep in. When you have all the time in the world, that's when they're up bouncing around early!

The last couple of days (or is that daze?) Ryan hasn't napped. Thank goodness today he's finally taking a huge nap. Yay! He's due to be up any moment though...

The Friday before Larry left (Feb. 16), we went on a ghost walk in York. http://www.yorkshirenet.co.uk/yorkghostwalk/ We dropped Ryan off at Natasha's house, and were on the road at 7pm. York is only about 15 miles away, and the tour didn't start until 8pm. You would think an hour would be plenty of time to travel 15 miles and park. But no. This is North Yorkshire. Somehow it took us over an hour to get to York and park. Then we still had to find the King's Arms Pub, where the tour meets. We walked along the river Ouse (pronounced "ooze") on Dame Judi Dench walk. We realized we were never going to make the tour on time, but Larry was bound and determined to at least find the place.

We had pretty much chalked this trip up to Misbegotten Adventures in England (eternal thanks to Carissa for that title!), when we found the pub, AND saw that the tour was just a short way off and hadn't actually started yet. We showed up just in time to pay. (Darn!) It was a perfect night for a ghost walk: cool and misty, and dark. We'd been on a ghost walk before in Prague, but it was during high summer and it was still light out. Things just aren't as spooky in the light of day.

The tour got started, and was enjoyable. The gentleman telling the stories was an accomplished and entertaining storyteller. The stories were spooky and interesting. We walked around the city, listening to various tales. Before we knew it, the tour was over. Our tour guide had a book he'd written with all the stories and more in it, for only 3.50 pounds! Yes, we got a copy! I'm the one who wanted it, but Larry's the one who took off with it when he left for Maryland. Go figure!

There are at least a couple other ghost walks in York. Larry and I agreed it would be fun to collect them.

On the walk back to the car, we saw something swimming in the river we couldn't identify. It wasn't a duck or a fish. It seemed kind of skinny for an otter. I have no idea what varieties of semi-aquatic wildlife populate the river Ouse. Seeing an odd creature swimming in the river was a fitting end to our ghost walk experience!

Apparently today is World Book Day. http://www.worldbookday.com/about/ "World Book Day was designated by UNESCO as a worldwide celebration of books and reading, and is marked in over 100 countries around the globe. The origins of the day we now celebrate in the UK and Ireland come from Catalonia, where roses and books were given as gifts to loved ones on St. George’s Day – a tradition started over 80 years ago." (Taken from the site I linked to above.)

In honor of World Book Day, I will rectify what I realized a long time ago was a curious oversight on an entry I wrote about books. (The entry was on or about Aug. 24 of last year and is also on my myspace blog.) I left out one of my most favorite books of all time: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. I first came across this book during the summer of 2000. Larry was at AIT at Goodfellow AFB in Texas, and I was at my parents' house in Palmdale. My Mom suggested the book to me. I opened it up and quickly fell completely in. The story is about a WWII combat nurse, Claire. She is on a second honeymoon in Scotland, when she touches a stone circle and is thrown back in time to 1743. There she is embroiled in politics and intrigue, and winds up falling in love in spite of herself. This book is incredibly well written, and is the sort of book that's impossible to put down. I've come back to this book, again and again. I've bought this book several times over, because when I loan a copy out, I can't stand to be without a copy of my own! The storytelling, the characters, the setting - everything about this book is enthralling. By the end, you feel as though the characters are real, and as though you've been through everything they have. Outlander has everything: history, action, intrigue, romance. I highly recommend it. I do have one word of warning: There are (so far) six books in the series (although Outlander can stand on its own nicely). After the fourth book, I'm afraid I was only reading because I loved the characters so much. I didn't like the 5th and 6th books. However, the first, Outlander, is amazing and definitely worth the read.

On the topic of holidays, I meant to write about Pancake Night, aka, Shrove Tuesday (which was not this last Tuesday, but the Tuesday before). I always thought of this as a Catholic holiday. Apparently in the UK, it's a national holiday that everyone can observe. Apparently it's the tradition to have pancakes for dinner, because all the fats in the house were supposed to be used up in preparation for Lent. Even if you don't observe Lent, the pancake part of the tradition lives on. I ran with the Harrogate Harriers that night, and one of the girls in the group asked me if I was going to have pancakes for dinner. (Which I didn't, by the way.) It was also a topic of discussion on the local radio.

Today also happens to be St. David's day, which I know nothing about, except that it seems to be a Welsh holiday.

Happy belated birthday Abby!

Happy birthday Dylan!

Love,

~Holly and Ryan

I would like to post a huge Congratulations to Larry, on the completion of his master's degree in Intelligence, with an emphasis in Russian studies. He got word this last week that he passed his comprehensive exam, and will officially be awarded his degree on March 31.

I spoke to Larry today on the phone. His first week in class in the States has gone well. I put Ryan on the phone with his daddy at the beginning and end of Larry's call. Ryan was the most talkative he'd ever been on the phone! I was happy for Larry that he got to hear so much of Ryan. Before, whenever Larry was away and I'd put Ryan on the phone, the most Larry would hear was Ryan breathing!

Florida Part II

On Jan. 6, my parents took me and Ryan to LAX for our flight to Orlando. I was in the security area, where you go through the metal detectors and have all your junk inspected. There was a big African American security man with a loud voice who kept repeating, "Not now, but right now..." (make sure all your belongings... etc. etc.) What got me was how he kept saying, "Not now, but right now..." It sounded so strange! I wanted to say to everyone else around, "Is anyone else hearing this???" The man was making the announcement in the sort of way one who doesn't think anyone is really paying attention does. I couldn't help but wonder if he was choosing that phrasing to see if anyone would notice (which would tell me either he's got twisted sense of humor, or is really bored), OR if he was completely serious. For the longest time I had it stuck in my head: "Not now, but right now..." It had a distinct cadence to it. The funny thing (or sad, depending on how you look at it) is, I don't remember a thing he said after that. I know it had something to do with carry on luggage, but obviously that's not what stuck out in my mind!

Unfortunately, Ryan didn't get to sleep until 1am! I know I've mentioned it in my last two Stateside catch-up posts, but Ryan really reached the end of his rope somewhere in Vegas, and things didn't much improve until we'd been back in the UK for about three weeks!

The next day we got off to a pleasantly late start. Paula brewed a pot of some wonderfully expensive coffee by the name of "Bad Ass Coffee," complete with a drawing of a donkey on the bag!

Once we got ourselves together, Paula, Olivia, Ryan, and I drove to Daytona to meet a good friend, and colleague of Paula's, Gillian. Gillian is a lovely, worldy lady from the UK. I met her and instantly liked her! We all went to Daytona Beach, where Ryan and Olivia had a wonderful time splashing in the water. We were blessed with a warm, sunny day, and the water happened to be decently warm. Hitting the beach in January! Gotta love it!

After a while, Ryan started turning blue, so we decided to dry off the kiddos and head back to Gillian's. We had a very relaxing, enjoyable time drinking tea and chatting while Olivia and Ryan played.

After our visit with Gillian, we hit a SuperTarget on the way home. I'd never been to one before! It was amazing! It's things like SuperTargets that blow my mind after spending an extended amount of time overseas. I have to admit I was a bit overwhelmed. Unfortunately I had a mildly annoying experience with the cashier. I was buying a bottle of wine. The man ringing me up (who definitely looked older than I am), took a look at the wine, then a pointed look at me, then continued to ring up my purchases without saying a word. It wasn't the fact that he didn't card me that I found vaguely offensive, it was the way he looked at me - lacking in any subtlety or tact whatsoever. Oh well.

The next day, we had another leisurely start. (Isn't that what vacations are all about?) We went to the Daytona International Speedway, where Robert works. It was fun to look around the actual track, and to browse the gift shops. I got Ryan an adorable sweater.

Afterwards, we went shopping for roller skates at the Sport Authority. (Paula is involved with roller derby.) We went to Barnes & Noble, but Ryan decided to be loud and obnoxious, so I had to take him outside. He managed to calm down and we were able to take a spin through World Market, an interesting store I'd never been to before.

That day I managed to finish my first sudoku puzzle! For some reason, I'd had a mental block with those before. I really think part of it was the book of puzzles I'd been trying to work. They were really hard! It was such a relief to finally be able to complete a puzzle, and enjoy the sudoku craze.

My last full day there, Paula indulged me and took me to a place I'd been curious about, Casadega. It's a colony of various new age, spiritualist type people. My hat is really off to Paula on this one. I didn't realize it at the time, but those sorts of places are well and truly not her cup of tea. So the fact that she put that aside for me really means a lot! We perused the bookstore, and drove around the small enclave. I really enjoyed our visit. (Unfortunately I don't think I can say the same for Paula!)

Next, we went on a holy quest for a particular item to keep Ryan busy on our flight to the UK. There was a Dora the Explorer magna doodle type toy in the car that Ryan really took a shine to. I thought it would be great for him to have on the plane. Unfortunately it took visits to two different WalMarts to find one. After that, we had dinner at the Cracker Barrel, one of my favorite restaurants. (They don't have them in CA that I'm aware of. They're more of a southern thing.) On our way out, we hit a geocache located in front of the restaurant. (Apparently there are caches at all the Cracker Barrels.)

During our stay at Paula and Robert's, Robert and Ryan had a little game they would play. It started out innocently. Ryan usurped Olivia's booster seat at the dining table. Ryan was trying to get down out of the seat, when Robert said, "You need some help?" For some reason, Ryan got back in the seat. From then on, every time Ryan would make to get out of the seat and Robert would say,"You need some help?" Ryan would get back in his seat and start laughing.

Also while we were there, Paula cooked some yummy food. One of the things Paula is famous for among family and friends, is her pumpkin rolls. These are rolls made with pumpkin bread and cream cheese. Paula walked me through making them, and I wound up carrying one on the plane! It actually survived all the way back to Harrogate.

On Jan. 10, Paula took me and Ryan to the airport. Luckily, my flight was later in the afternoon, so we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn like last time. On the way to the airport, Paula asked me what all we have in England that we have in the States. Here's a list off the top of my head:

Borders, IKEA, Toys'r'us, KFC, McDonald's, Domino's, Pizza Hut, TGIFriday's, Blockbuster, Woolworth's, Starbucks (of course!). I know there's a lot more, but that's all I can think of at the moment.

We discovered at the airport that friends can sometimes get gate passes, at the discretion of the individual airlines, for friends to help passengers. There wasn't really time for us to go back and get one for Paula, but it's definitely good to know for the next time.

I was sad to leave. I had such a great time with family and friends in the States. I was also enjoying the wonderful weather we'd had in CA, NV, and FL!

We had a short flight to Atlanta, and of course Ryan only really slept during that short flight! From there it was straight on 'til morning, literally.

We landed in Manchester to high winds and rain. Ugh. Welcome back to the UK. Things didn't go all that well once on the ground. First, I discovered that Ryan's stroller had been sent to baggage claim, instead of being brought to the gate. The reason? They didn't want it to get wet. Hmm. Let me think here. This is ENGLAND. It RAINS a lot here. You would think they would have come up with a system of getting people's strollers to them at the gate without getting them wet. Oh well. So this means I have to somehow get Ryan, the car seat, and two pieces of carry-on luggage the very long trek to the baggage claim. Next I'd discovered that I hadn't filled out enough landing cards (to get into the US, you just need one for the whole family, while in the UK each person has to have one). So I get through customs, only to find that the elevators down to baggage claim aren't working. Luckily, some kind strangers helped me down the stairs with all my stuff. I finally get the stroller and a cart for all my luggage. I've got everything together, and exit the baggage area out into the passenger pickup area. Larry is nowhere to be seen! I actually laughed out loud - quite mirthlessly - because that was just in line with how the rest of my return to England had been going. I guessed - correctly - that Larry had simply heeded a call of nature, and he appeared about five minutes after we had.

It was weird to be back. I had no idea it would take Ryan so long to readjust. However, we're fine now. Since Larry is going to be gone so long, people have asked me if I'm going back to the States. Hell no! :) The next time I'm going back to the States, it's going to be for good. The transitions are just too hard, both for me and Ryan.

I will miss living overseas when our time here is done (which will probably be sometime in early December). However, it will be great to be back on the same continent with most of my family and friends!

Palmdale Part II

So it's almost two months later... I am bound and determined to catch up on that Stateside visit! :) To that end: On Jan. 3, Ryan and I drove back to Palmdale. The next day, my Mom and I took Ryan for his very first haircut. In the humid climates of the UK and FL, Ryan's long hair wound into cute curls. Unfortunately, in the dry air of the desert in CA and NV, his hair looked more like a rat's nest!

I found a place called Castle Kid's Kutz. They specialize in kiddos. It was pretty neat. The whole place is decorated like a medieval castle. They had lots of toys in the waiting area. The chairs the kids sat in looked like cars and trucks. Unfortunately, the only open one for Ryan's appointment was pink and purple! The lady cutting Ryan's hair was really nice - and quick! The clippers she used looked like a peanut. There were plenty of toys to distract Ryan while he was getting his hair cut. He did really well, but was getting antsy towards the end. The whole time, my Mom and I took pictures like madwomen! :P

At the end, I got a certificate with a lock of Ryan's hair. It's a nice keepsake.

From there, we met up with my Dad for lunch at the Texas Cattle Co. at the mall.

I have to say, with his new haircut, Ryan went from a baby to a little boy! He looked so different. It was strange, but good.

I only had a couple of days in Palmdale with my parents, and they went by in a blink. We got in a nice drive, and of course a stop at my all time favorite Mexican restaurant, Ernie's Jr., in Eagle Rock, CA.

Unfortunately, Ryan's sleeping troubles continued. It got to the point where at bedtime, he wouldn't even stay in our room. I think everything got to be a bit much for him. I can't blame him!

I left for Florida on Jan. 6. I really enjoyed the time with my parents, and was sad to leave. However, I was heading back to Paula and Robert in Florida, so I was definitely looking forward to that! (To be continued...)