Happenings

Did I tell you our good news? I have something for you to look forward to in the post-holiday blues: The Covey family biennial trip home! That's right, we are packing up our 2 small babies and boarding a 24-hr flight from the temperate tropics to frosty North America this January. Crazy, you might think? I suspect you are right. Which is why I am trying not to put too much thought on the getting there and the jetlag and the freezing, short days, but rather trying to focus on seeing family and eating delicious food and introducing the kids to some winter activities. We are grossly unprepared for winter weather, by the way, having been in Singapore the past 4.5 years. The last time I saw snow must have been sometime early 2007. I have been thinking about the coldest temperatures we have experienced since leaving for Singapore in Aug 2007. It might have been in Stockholm in Oct 2010 or in Berlin this May 2011 (Brrrr! Don't I look cold in the pictures!?) or any of the times we went to the movie theater in Singapore. Because of this and some naturally poor circulation, my body thinks it's cold when it's in the 70s. I wonder what poor Adrienne and Nate will think of the weather...especially given that the warmest things in their collective closets are a long sleeve onsie and a puffy vest. (BTW, if you happen to be in the Chicago or Twin Falls areas and have winter clothes that would fit a small 2-yr old or a big 2-month old, we are gratefully accepting donations for the duration of our stay).

Stockholm, 2010

Berlin 2011

Speaking of going home, Regis tells me we need to get in shape for our trip back. I'm not really sure what he means by 'we', since one of us has spent the past year training for and completing triathlons while the other one of us has been eating chocolate covered almonds and ice-blended coffee milkshakes under the (legitimate) excuse of growing another human being. However, taking this (not so) subtle hint and also feeling the need to try to chase away the blues, I pulled out my running shoes and participated in our local, monthly 5K hosted by the US Navy this past Saturday. I am happy to report that 1. I finished 2. In a not-so-shabby-if-I-do-say-so-myself time of 33 minutes 3. and I didn't pee my pants. You laugh at that last one but that is what happened to me in my first run after giving birth to Adrienne. I came home in tears, sure that I needed to give up running or invest in Depends.

The best part of the race (besides the bladder success) was that following it the Navy had hired a Santa for all the kids. This was very fortuitous since we, as neglectful scrooges, have not ventured to a mall to introduce Adrienne to Santa. Mostly because the malls are so crowded here and I lose all semblance of a Christmas spirit in these situations. But in this case, we just had to wait in a small room with a handful of other candy-craving children to see Santa. This was enhanced by the fact that I got to hear what the other kids were asking for, which was exactly: I don't know, I don't know, a basketball, I don't know, long hair, and I don't know. ('Long hair', how cute is that?!) Given Adrienne's history of performances, I thought she would definitely forget her line under pressure like so many of the other kids apparently had. But no, she warily sat with Santa but loudly proclaimed that she would like a "Racing Car!" when asked what she would like for Christmas. She was given 2 suckers (candy canes are a tad expensive in Singapore) and returned to us. I asked her how it was and she replied, "Scary". I think she actually meant "Merry'. 

I hope you and yours have a very merry Christmas week and we are looking forward to seeing as many of you as possibly in January!