A post, A post, my kingdom for a post

Well it's been some time since I last posted. There has been a whirl wind of activity for us. Summer was spent lounging outside soaking up the hot weather and preparing for a new school year. This year, however, I don't have to home school. Our church, by the Grace of God, has opened an orthodox private school. There is a wonderful headmaster and assistant teacher as well as tons of support from the parents and church members. I've been given the task of field trip coordinator and Herman has been given the job of "grounds keeper". I am too thrilled to do this as it will keep me OUT of the classroom and away from teaching. The first couple of months have been a roaring success for the kids. They are happy, they are learning, they are bonding and the parents are getting a moment to breathe while the kids are at school now.

The next activity we encountered was a Sept./Oct. vacation to Babylon, or better known as Southern California. Herman and I grew up there but have been in the NW now for 15 years. We left on a Sunday and returned over two weeks later. The only downfall of the trip was I still had to have the kids do math and grammar while we were gone. It was just like homeschooling again.....Ugh! But we made it and stayed up to date with the classes.

We spent much time with the Ma'ae family eating, playing at the beach, visiting, worshiping and "cruising" to the B-52's. Herman and I both laughed hard and agreed this was the best vacation we've had in years. We hit the L.A. fair with the older two kids avoiding the gang activity by attending it during the day-yes we like to live on the edge. It was fun to be a huge fair again and I even almost went to blows with a carney. (ok, not really but I had to verbally strong arm him to get him to give Tansy the giant frog I had won for her) Boy did I feel at home. As we were leaving the parking lot that evening, Becket asked me if I was a carney. I told him that technically I wasn't. My family were vendors in the buildings not game runners. Tansy then added, "oh you were just a carney lover" and I'm not sure who chimed in this next bit but the conversation was ended with "You loved them each time they came into town right?". Ahh children, gotta love em. Ahem, anyway.....We also got to spend a day at Disneyland and California Adventures. It was a day of rushing from one ride to the next. We started with Indiana Jones-my and Hermans favorite. Tansy was pretty terrified to go on and I, the loving mom, dragged her crying, kicking and screaming all through the line and onto the ride while yelling over her screams, "TRUST ME!! YOU'LL LOVE IT" By the end of the ride she finally lifted her head from my lap, wiped her tear stained face and told me she liked it maybe 1%. huh, I could have sworn she would have liked it. I ended my day before the others had with a trip on California Screaming with Herman. The kids were too chicken to go on so we sat them down in one spot together and proceeded to ride this monster together. Romantic isn't it??? Herman even commented that this was the first time we had ever ridden a roller coaster together. As we stood in our spot to get into the cars, I noticed no one was smiling that was just getting off the ride. Another guest noticed this too and I pondered it as I got in and buckled up. I stored my glasses in the secure pouch and became a bit worried about what I got myself into. Once we took off at WARP speed I might add, I knew why people weren't smiling. We hit the loop de loop and upside down I went still at warp speed. I again confirmed in my head ohhh, this is just wrong. We went up and down and up and down and around and up and down again, man this happened to be the longest ride yet. I stopped screaming and fake laughing half way through and just held on till it ended. I wobbled off and headed straight for the bathroom where I quickly splashed water all over my face hoping to wash the last 7 minutes of my life away. The fam still wanted to go on more rides and I slowly followed, passing on each ride-even the jungle cruise. I sat till everyone was ready to leave and I was relieved. Poor Becket kept asking me if I felt better, when I replied no, he would walk way far away from me hoping not to "catch" my motion sickness. We stopped at In and Out burger on the way home. One bite and I knew no more should go in my body. Off to bed as soon as I got home. The next morning I found I couldn't even do bows or prostration without bringing on a wave of motion sickness so I spent the rest of the day relaxing and recuperating.
I think I know my limits now, till the next time that is.
We spend days walking on the pier, playing in the surf, eating, shopping, and taking in all that we could emotionally.
We left the day after an attempted surfing gig-water was way too cold but enjoyed the time we spent with John on the beach while watching the kids do some body surfing. Herman and I were ready to make the trek home but felt a little lonely for our friends we were leaving in Long Beach. The trip home was great, completed with tacos in Stockton and some cultural exposure on the streets of Portland.

It's funny, this trip did something to Hermans and my head. It cleared the fog and atrophy. We woke up it seemed, to our own potential as Herman and Juliana but also to the potential in others, especially those we would have in the past walked right by with our heads turned aside. We discovered that we are social creatures who crave community, though we are so set in our independence. Our goal is to extend ourselves more and bring others into our lives more. We want to banish the fear that exists within us, the fear of falling down and breaking a limb at our age, the fear of looking foolish trying something new, the fear of being laughed at for an artful expression. The fear of our 40 something lives stagnating and our "bottoms" rusting. So for now, in the Papa Herman clan there will be no rusty bottoms-only squeaky hinges that need a little more oil, oil that we will continue to pursue.