Inspired by what seems like a near non-stop exposure to HGTV (I admit that some of that is my doing), I embarked on an attempted surprise for Ahna that featured a one day makeover of our study. The study has been a place that was mostly lost in the house, and as it’s the first thing that you see when you come in, it was sorely in need of some help. We had planned on painting the entire house earlier this year, but circumstances prevented us from being able to financially commit to that project. So, some overtime came into the picture, and with that extra income, a fun project like a room makeover came into focus.

Disclaimer: here was lots of lying involved. White lies, or otherwise, I still had to hold to a story that wasn’t entirely what was actually happening. After we got the first paycheck with the overtime included, Ahna asked if we could use some of that money towards redoing the study……sorry, nope, we needed it elsewhere. For over a month, I would have to concoct some alternative answer to questions about my day, or suppress any further digging into what was happening. And then there was the reliance upon luck that she wouldn’t see some of the things that were happening for the project: like expenditures, like things hidden around the house, like things stored at my parent’s place, etc (it’s interesting to write all of this down, because as the back story is shared, I am near certain that a surprise like this will never be able to be pulled off again). And the day of the project? I had a meeting to go to, of course.

So all of the planning, all of the pieces, and all of the parts came together exactly at 0730, just minutes after Ahna left for school (this was the first time in 10 years that I have been glad that she had a long day at school of parent-teacher conferences that would keep her there until 7pm). Room evacuated of stuff, painter arrived (extra expense, but needed to make this happen in one day….and he did a fine job by the way), and movement of things into the basement began. Everything going according to design. Then the first and, really only, disaster speedbump reared it’s head. While my Dad (the extra set of hands that were needed for this project) and I were moving an old bookcase into the basement, we heard a loud bang and crash/shatter. Rewind a few minutes with me, and when Dad was staging the bookcases in the room for removal, he had a gut feeling that he shouldn’t have placed one of them in the middle of the room, on carpet, with nobody holding it. If you take anything from reading this story, it’s this: listen to gut feelings. Ok, back up to the crash/shatter noise. That bookcase? It fell into another piece of furniture (no big deal, that one was leaving too) and then straight into one of the slider pieces on the front window – shattering one of the panes of glass (since this is essentially the only good story to come out of the day, we are spending some extra time on it now).

A quick cleaning of the large and small shards of glass and a few four letter words – aloud and silent – later, we embarked on fixing the problem. A long story shorter, we got tremendous help from the neighborhood  construction supervisor for Meritage Homes, and were able to find a slider piece that would work in the interim until we can get the original fixed. It’s amazing how quickly blood pressures can rise and fall.

The rest of the makeover went pretty much on schedule. We spent a long time putting furniture together (thanks IKEA for making it not too difficult), and then an equally long time putting the room all back together. After starting the transformation at 0730, we finished it all up at 501pm, some 10 hours later…and just a couple of dollars over budget. The surprise went of flawlessly, and Ahna was shocked. Part of me wishes that we had a camera filming it, but a large part of me is excited that Ezra and I get to keep that reaction to ourselves; it was just so awesome. We are really happy with the room, and it has take a large load off of our dining room table. When surprise meets organization meets design meets function, it creates a wonderful space – an even better story.

And for the record, Ezra was the first one to use it.

the 'after'

the 'before'

This year’s venture to the mountains to find the changing aspen leaves took us back to the traditional promised land of Kenosha Pass. It’s our default location to visit, and although we have found great success in other spots, this one is a sure thing….and sure things are important with kids. We have been going to Kenosha to find the trees on and off for a bunch of years, and this time around the timing of our schedules worked out to full advantage. The other thing that apparently works to our full advantage is having a kid that rises early – and therefore allows us to hit the road early, and therefore arrive at our destination before the masses get moving. Kenosha is a popular spot because of the amount of aspen trees, and it’s accessibility – right off of 285 about an hour from Denver, so it fills quickly on weekends.

Our trip up into the mountains was actually just before the ‘peak’ time for the leaf changing, but that’s our current favorite time to see them. The leaves change from green, to yellow, to orange, and to red before finally falling off – all within about a three week time frame. So when we started into the mountains and got our first glimpse of the changing leaves, we knew that we were in for a good showing. We arrived at the parking lot, and took off on our hike into the woods. Every single time that we have gone up to see the trees at Kenosha Pass, we have left the parking lot and gone right to the hike. We even found a ‘secret’ trail that leads out the back of one of the campgrounds and down into a valley where no other trail ends. For the longest time, we thought that we had the perfect viewing spots for the trees….until a random request from Ezra to hike to the left this time around. We embarked down the road, then found a trail that took us through a stunning meadow framed by aspen trees, and finally ended at a running stream with amazing views. The wisdom of a three year old is serendipitous sometimes. We enjoyed a nice long hike – even though it was a touch on the warm side – before heading back to the car. On the way home, we found a nice spot on the side of the road, and backed up to a river, for a tailgate lunch.

As this new school year started, things were going to be different for all of us. Ahna moved to third grade, Ezra started going to school for the first time, and I found myself with a few hours twice a week with an opportunity to do what I wanted. I thought that the time was going to provide me with ample chance to do anything I wanted….movies, sleep, work out, music, photography, stand in the hallway and not move….you know, anything I wanted.

Well, as things tend to do, those mornings are getting filled up with all of the stuff that I previously drug Ezra along to – it’s just a rearrangement of the previous schedule. Sure, we are more than a month into it, and I have had a chance to run a little, to watch a little mindless TV, and to play on the computer; but mostly it’s been meetings or errands that Ezra doesn’t have to deal with.

Anyhow, all of this ramble is actually going somewhere: there was this one morning recently that I took the opportunity to head out into the great wilderness that is the north side of the Denver metro area and find some sunflowers to photo. I hadn’t scouted any places previously, and my friend that knows the area had to back out at the last minute (something about some big fires in Oklahoma)….so point the car to a good last-known-location, hope to get there before sunrise, and ignore the No Trespassing signs on the fields. Actually, I only ignored a sign like that once, and for about 10 feet before going to a different field with no such obvious signs.

As luck would have it, there was about two minutes of awesome sunrise light before the sun ducked behind clouds for the rest of the morning, creating a very flat light, which is at the same time annoying and a good thing. Annoying because I couldn’t get the shot that I had in my head, and good because it forced me to look at things in a different way to get something worth keeping.

Blah, blah, blah; right?! Enough writing, here are the photos:

We don’t forget. We will never forget. Tears.

Tomorrow, we climb because you climbed. You are a daily inspiration for us all.

Each year, I post this photo…a stunning capture in history (read story here). This is a photo of FDNY’s Ladder 118 responding to the WTC. None of them would survive the day. These guys knew what they were getting into, yet they didn’t hesitate.

The list of the 343 FDNY brothers that died:

Joseph Agnello, Lad.118 Lt. Brian Ahearn, Bat.13 Eric Allen, Sqd.18 (D) Richard Allen, Lad.15 Cpt. James Amato, Sqd.1 Calixto Anaya Jr., Eng.4 Joseph Agnello, Lad.118 Lt. Brian Ahearn, Bat.13 Eric Allen, Sqd.18 (D) Richard Allen, Lad.15 Cpt. James Amato, Sqd.1 Calixto Anaya Jr., Eng.4 Joseph Angelini, Res.1 (D) Joseph Angelini Jr., Lad.4 Faustino Apostol Jr., Bat.2 David Arce, Eng.33 Louis Arena, Lad.5 (D) Carl Asaro, Bat.9 Lt. Gregg Atlas, Eng.10 Gerald Atwood, Lad.21 Gerald Baptiste, Lad.9 A.C. Gerard Barbara, Cmd. Ctr. Matthew Barnes, Lad.25 Arthur Barry, Lad.15 Lt.Steven Bates, Eng.235 Carl Bedigian, Eng.214 Stephen Belson, Bat.7 John Bergin, Res.5 Paul Beyer, Eng.6 Peter Bielfeld, Lad.42 Brian Bilcher, Sqd.1 Carl Bini, Res.5 Christopher Blackwell, Res.3 Michael Bocchino, Bat.48 Frank Bonomo, Eng.230 Gary Box, Sqd.1 Michael Boyle, Eng.33 Kevin Bracken, Eng.40 Michael Brennan, Lad.4 Peter Brennan, Res.4 Cpt. Daniel Brethel, Lad.24 (D) Cpt. Patrick Brown, Lad.3 Andrew Brunn, Lad.5 (D) Cpt. Vincent Brunton, Lad.105 F.M. Ronald Bucca Greg Buck, Eng.201 Cpt. William Burke Jr., Eng.21 A.C. Donald Burns, Cmd. Ctr. John Burnside, Lad.20 Thomas Butler, Sqd.1 Patrick Byrne, Lad.101 George Cain, Lad.7 Salvatore Calabro, Lad.101 Cpt. Frank Callahan, Lad.35 Michael Cammarata, Lad.11 Brian Cannizzaro, Lad.101 Dennis Carey, Hmc.1 Michael Carlo, Eng.230 Michael Carroll, Lad.3 Peter Carroll, Sqd.1 (D) Thomas Casoria, Eng.22 Michael Cawley, Lad.136 Vernon Cherry, Lad.118 Nicholas Chiofalo, Eng.235 John Chipura, Eng.219 Michael Clarke, Lad.2 Steven Coakley, Eng.217 Tarel Coleman, Sqd.252 John Collins, Lad.25 Robert Cordice, Sqd.1 Ruben Correa, Eng.74 James Coyle, Lad.3 Robert Crawford, Safety Lt. John Crisci, H.M. B.C. Dennis Cross, Bat.57 (D) Thomas Cullen III, Sqd. 41 Robert Curatolo, Lad.16 (D) Lt. Edward D’Atri, Sqd.1 Michael D’Auria, Eng.40 Scott Davidson, Lad.118 Edward Day, Lad.11 B.C. Thomas DeAngelis, Bat. 8 Manuel Delvalle, Eng.5 Martin DeMeo, H.M. 1 David DeRubbio, Eng.226 Lt. Andrew Desperito, Eng.1 (D) B.C. Dennis Devlin, Bat.9 Gerard Dewan, Lad.3 George DiPasquale, Lad.2 Lt. Kevin Donnelly, Lad.3 Lt. Kevin Dowdell, Res.4 B.C. Raymond Downey, Soc. Gerard Duffy, Lad.21 Cpt. Martin Egan, Jr., Div.15 (D) Michael Elferis, Eng.22 Francis Esposito, Eng.235 Lt. Michael Esposito, Sqd.1 Robert Evans, Eng.33B.C. John Fanning, H.O. Cpt. Thomas Farino, Eng.26 Terrence Farrell, Res.4 Cpt. Joseph Farrelly, Div.1 Dep. Comm. William Feehan, (D) Lee Fehling, Eng.235 Alan Feinberg, Bat.9 Michael Fiore, Res.5 Lt. John Fischer, Lad.20 Andre Fletcher, Res.5 John Florio, Eng.214 Lt. Michael Fodor, Lad.21 Thomas Foley, Res.3 David Fontana, Sqd.1 Robert Foti, Lad.7 Andrew Fredericks, Sqd.18 Lt. Peter Freund, Eng.55 Thomas Gambino Jr., Res.3 Chief of Dept. Peter Ganci, Jr. (D) Lt. Charles Garbarini, Bat.9 Thomas Gardner, Hmc.1 Matthew Garvey, Sqd.1 Bruce Gary, Eng.40 Gary Geidel, Res.1 B.C. Edward Geraghty, Bat.9 Dennis Germain, Lad.2 Lt. Vincent Giammona, Lad.5 James Giberson, Lad.35 Ronnie Gies, Sqd.288 Paul Gill, Eng.54 Lt. John Ginley, Eng.40 Jeffrey Giordano, Lad.3 John Giordano, Hmc.1 Keith Glascoe, Lad.21 James Gray, Lad.20 B.C. Joseph Grzelak, Bat.48 Jose Guadalupe, Eng.54 Lt. Geoffrey Guja, Bat.43 Lt. Joseph Gullickson, Lad.101 David Halderman, Sqd.18 Lt. Vincent Halloran, Lad.8 Robert Hamilton, Sqd.41 Sean Hanley, Lad.20 (D) Thomas Hannafin, Lad.5 Dana Hannon, Eng.26 Daniel Harlin, Lad.2 Lt. Harvey Harrell, Res.5 Lt. Stephen Harrell, Bat.7 Cpt. Thomas Haskell, Jr., Div.15 Timothy Haskell, Sqd.18 (D) Cpt. Terence Hatton, Res.1 Michael Haub, Lad.4 Lt. Michael Healey, Sqd.41 John Hefferman, Lad.11 Ronnie Henderson, Eng.279 Joseph Henry, Lad.21 William Henry, Res.1 (D) Thomas Hetzel, Lad.13 Cpt. Brian Hickey, Res.4 Lt. Timothy Higgins, S.O.C. Jonathan Hohmann, Hmc.1 Thomas Holohan, Eng.6 Joseph Hunter, Sqd.288 Cpt. Walter Hynes, Lad.13 (D)Jonathan Ielpi, Sqd.288 Cpt. Frederick Ill Jr., Lad.2 William Johnston, Eng.6 Andrew Jordan, Lad.132 Karl Joseph, Eng.207 Lt. Anthony Jovic, Bat.47 Angel Juarbe Jr., Lad.12 Mychal Judge, Chaplain (D) Vincent Kane, Eng.22 B.C. Charles Kasper, S.O.C. Paul Keating, Lad.5 Richard Kelly Jr., Lad.11 Thomas R. Kelly, Lad.15 Thomas W. Kelly, Lad.105 Thomas Kennedy, Lad.101 Lt. Ronald Kerwin, Sqd.288 Michael Kiefer, Lad.132 Robert King Jr., Eng.33 Scott Kopytko, Lad.15 William Krukowski, Lad.21 Kenneth Kumpel, Lad.25 Thomas Kuveikis, Sqd.252 David LaForge, Lad.20 William Lake, Res.2 Robert Lane, Eng.55 Peter Langone, Sqd.252 Scott Larsen, Lad.15 Lt. Joseph Leavey, Lad.15 Neil Leavy, Eng.217 Daniel Libretti, Res.2 Carlos Lillo, Paramedic Robert Linnane, Lad.20 Michael Lynch, Eng.40 Michael Lynch, Lad.4 Michael Lyons, Sqd.41 Patrick Lyons, Sqd.252 Joseph Maffeo, Lad.101 William Mahoney, Res 4 Joseph Maloney, Lad.3 (D) B.C. Joseph Marchbanks Jr, Bat.12 Lt. Charles Margiotta, Bat.22 Kenneth Marino, Res.1 John Marshall, Eng.23 Lt. Peter Martin, Res.2 Lt. Paul Martini, Eng.23 Joseph Mascali, T.S.U. 2 Keithroy Maynard, Eng.33 Brian McAleese, Eng.226 John McAvoy, Lad.3 Thomas McCann, Bat.8 Lt. William McGinn, Sqd.18 B.C. William McGovern, Bat.2 (D) Dennis McHugh, Lad.13 Robert McMahon, Lad.20 Robert McPadden, Eng.23 Terence McShane, Lad.101 Timothy McSweeney, Lad.3 Martin McWilliams, Eng.22 (D) Raymond Meisenheimer, Res.3 Charles Mendez, Lad.7 Steve Mercado, Eng.40 Douglas Miller, Res.5 Henry Miller Jr, Lad.105 Robert Minara, Lad.25 Thomas Mingione, Lad.132 Lt. Paul Mitchell, Bat.1 Capt. Louis Modafferi, Res.5 Lt. Dennis Mojica, Res.1 (D) Manuel Mojica, Sqd.18 (D) Carl Molinaro, Lad.2 Michael Montesi, Res.1 Capt. Thomas Moody, Div.1 B.C. John Moran, Bat.49 Vincent Morello, Lad.35 Christopher Mozzillo, Eng.55 Richard Muldowney Jr, Lad.07 Michael Mullan, Lad.12 Dennis Mulligan, Lad.2 Lt. Raymond Murphy, Lad.16 Lt. Robert Nagel, Eng.58 John Napolitano, Res.2 Peter Nelson, Res.4 Gerard Nevins, Res.1 Dennis O’Berg, Lad.105 Lt. Daniel O’Callaghan, Lad.4 Douglas Oelschlager, Lad.15 Joseph Ogren, Lad.3 Lt. Thomas O’Hagan, Bat.4 Samuel Oitice, Lad.4 Patrick O’Keefe, Res.1 Capt. William O’Keefe, Div.15 (D) Eric Olsen, Lad.15 Jeffery Olsen, Eng.10 Steven Olson, Lad.3 Kevin O’Rourke, Res.2 Michael Otten, Lad.35 Jeffery Palazzo, Res.5 B.C. Orio Palmer, Bat.7 Frank Palombo, Lad.105 Paul Pansini, Eng.10 B.C. John Paolillo, Bat.11 James Pappageorge, Eng.23 Robert Parro, Eng.8 Durrell Pearsall, Res.4 Lt. Glenn Perry, Bat.12 Lt. Philip Petti, Bat.7 Lt. Kevin Pfeifer, Eng. 33 Lt. Kenneth Phelan, Bat.32 Christopher Pickford, Eng.201 Shawn Powell, Eng.207 Vincent Princiotta, Lad.7 Kevin Prior, Sqd.252 B.C. Richard Prunty, Bat.2 (D) Lincoln Quappe, Res.2 Lt. Michael Quilty, Lad.11 Ricardo Quinn, Paramedic Leonard Ragaglia, Eng.54 Michael Ragusa, Eng.279 Edward Rall, Res.2 Adam Rand, Sqd.288 Donald Regan, Res.3 Lt. Robert Regan, Lad.118 Christian Regenhard, Lad.131 Kevin Reilly, Eng.207 Lt. Vernon Richard, Lad.7 James Riches, Eng.4 Joseph Rivelli, Lad.25 Michael Roberts, Eng.214 Michael E. Roberts, Lad.35 Anthony Rodriguez, Eng.279 Matthew Rogan, Lad.11 Nicholas Rossomando, Res.5 Paul Ruback, Lad.25 Stephen Russell, Eng.55 Lt. Michael Russo, S.O.C. B.C. Matthew Ryan, Bat.1 Thomas Sabella, Lad.13 Christopher Santora, Eng.54 John Santore, Lad.5 (D) Gregory Saucedo, Lad.5 Dennis Scauso, H.M. 1 John Schardt, Eng.201 B.C. Fred Scheffold, Bat.12 Thomas Schoales, Eng.4 Gerard Schrang, Res.3 (D) Gregory Sikorsky, Sqd.41 Stephen Siller, Sqd.1 Stanley Smagala Jr, Eng.226 Kevin Smith, H.M. 1 Leon Smith Jr, Lad 118 Robert Spear Jr, Eng.26 Joseph Spor, Res.3 B.C. Lawrence Stack, Bat.50 Cpt. Timothy Stackpole, Div.11 (D) Gregory Stajk, Lad.13 Jeffery Stark, Eng.230 Benjamin Suarez, Lad.21 Daniel Suhr, Eng.216 (D) Lt. Christopher Sullivan, Lad.111 Brian Sweeney, Res.1 Sean Tallon, Lad.10 Allan Tarasiewicz, Res.5 Paul Tegtmeier, Eng.4 John Tierney, Lad.9 John Tipping II, Lad.4 Hector Tirado Jr, Eng.23 Richard Vanhine, Sqd.41 Peter Vega, Lad.118 Lawrence Veling, Eng.235 John Vigiano II, Lad.132 Sergio Villanueva, Lad.132 Lawrence Virgilio, Sqd.18 (D) Lt. Robert Wallace, Eng.205 Jeffery Walz, Lad. 9 Lt. Michael Warchola, Lad.5 (D) Capt. Patrick Waters, S.O.C. Kenneth Watson, Eng.214 Michael Weinberg, Eng.1 (D) David Weiss, Res.1 Timothy Welty, Sqd.288 Eugene Whelan, Eng.230 Edward White, Eng.230 Mark Whitford, Eng.23 Lt. Glenn Wilkinson, Eng.238 (D) B.C. John Williamson, Bat.6 (D) Capt. David Wooley, Lad.4 Raymond York, Eng.285 (D)

2105 Miles. 38 Hours Driving. 8 State Line Crossings. 7 Days. 5 Cities. 2 Times The Camera Came Out.

Statistically speaking, this is what a quick road trip back to the midwest to visit family looked like for us. The answer to the most oft asked question about the trip….Ezra did great in the car. Sure, he had his moments; but we’re attributing those more to his being three years old than to being in the car. Neither Ahna or I ever sat in the back with him, and of the 38 hours in the car, he only watched the DVD player for about 4 hours total (it’s helpful to have the kind that we remove when it’s not on)…meaning that by and large, he spent 34 hours confined to a car seat entertaining himself in one fashion or another.

We tried really hard not to have any day of driving that was too long (longest day was one that we thought would be about 7 hours and turned into 9 due to having to take a detour due to the Missouri River flooding in Iowa) which lead to the fact that 5 of the 7 days had a drive that was at least 3 hours long. Our trip took us first to northern Iowa to see Ahna’s Grandmother and other family, then it was on to the La Crosse area of Wisconsin, before heading to our final destination city of Sioux Falls. It was awesome to be able to see everyone, and even though it required a lot of driving, it was great to be able to spend time with everyone at their houses – something that doesn’t happen nearly as often as we would like. And now that that’s done, we know that Ezra can handle long car trips….future destinations are open for discussion.

And as far as that camera thing? It simply just didn’t make it out of the bag but twice. Trust me, I know it’s weird….lot of country, lots of driving, lots of family; but not lots of photos. Oh well, the camera on the phone made up for it a couple of times.