Almost 20 years

I have almost lived in Pennsylvania for 20 years. Well since I also lived in this state the first 5 years of my life I guess I should say almost 25 years, but I am referring to consecutive years. I moved here in June 1996. I was thinking about this because I had my photo taken yesterday at the driver's license center to renew my license. I got my first PA driver's license in 1996 and for the next 4 1/2 years I lived in an apartment in Port Carbon. I renewed my license in April 2000 and then got a temporary address change card in January 2001 as I purchased my first home then, and then I got another temporary card in August 2001 because my last name changed. I renewed my license in April 2004 and then in July 2004 I got another temporary address change card because we moved to Catawissa. The same thing happened in 2008. I renewed my license in April and we moved in September. Basically from January 2001-April 2012 I was carrying around a temporary driver's license because I kept moving right after the card had been updated. I thought the same thing would happen in 2012 because Paul was finishing his Ph.D., but I actually went four years without needing a temporary card! The last two times I had my photo taken for a driver's license I was pregnant (Nadia then Oliver). Soon after getting my license renewed in 2012 I then had a 3 month break from driving due to the bed rest of that pregnancy.

Yesterday I got my license renewed, and it looks like we will be moving sometime this year so I will again be carrying around a temporary card for a few years. I got my picture taken during their gym class. Oliver was with me and wanted his picture to be taken also. No way, Jose! I have eight more years to adjust to the idea of Nadia being behind the wheel of a car. I remember when we moved into the Catawissa house in 2004 I said I hoped we would live in that house for a few decades. Now I am starting to wonder if that will ever happen. My parents have lived in their house for about 35 years, and Paul's parents have lived in their house for about 40 years. I would love to put down roots like that, but I have a feeling it's not going to happen. I had (and still have) zero desire for my husband to own a company. For the first 18.5 years I knew Paul he felt exactly the same way, but now he really wants to own one. You just never know what the future holds. I thought that I knew Paul pretty well since I've known him for over 19 years, but we human beings can be unpredictable at times, and even if you have known for someone for almost two decades they can surprise you with their choices.

Today was an absolutely beautiful day. Pop Pop and Grandma came up to see the two soccer games. Ian scored three goals during his 9:00 game. He could have played all four quarters, but he asked to sit out the fourth quarter. He played hard and did a great job on offense and defense. His three goals were the only three goals his team had during the whole game. After watching Nadia stay as one of the weakest players on her soccer and basketball teams for the past four years (and the same for Ian on his basketball team), it is still quite a surprise to see that Ian is doing such a great job playing soccer. He'll be on a U8 team in the fall, which will likely mean he won't score as many goals, but we'll just enjoy this for the next six weeks. He has played two games this spring and scored eight goals so far! Nadia only played two of the four quarters. She was going to play three, but because she didn't do well the first quarter she played defense, the coach benched her for another quarter. She did better during the fourth quarter when she played offense. She had one assist.

We haven't needed sunscreen yet this year, but we definitely needed it today, and I forgot. Oops! Need to get back in that habit. We were at the fields for three hours because there was an hour break in between the two games. I had concession duty so I was busy selling hot dogs, etc. I had my third run this week today, and it was the first time this year that I went more than 4 miles. I went 5.5 miles. Yay! I went on a level route though. My "usual" 6 mile route last year involved more elevation changes. I am not quite ready for that yet, but I am making progress. Earlier in the week I couldn't find the pants for Oliver's Chinese outfit, but I found them today so I took their pictures again. We played Chinese checkers this evening as part of our study of China this week. Nadia can't wait for our international food recipes to come to an end. When we were reading a book about Chinese food on Friday morning Ian said he wanted to try kumquats and sweetened walnuts. I went to a larger grocery store than I usually go to, but I couldn't find any kumquats in the produce section. I did find a can of jackfruit (another Asian fruit) in the Asian section. Nadia liked the fruit the best of all of us, but none of us were fans.

Ian wasn't keen on the sweetened walnuts, but Nadia and I loved them. The kids and I all did fine eating the pineapple and sesame fritters, but none of us were crazy about the beef chow mein (although all of us except for Nadia liked the chow mein noodles). Ian finished his chow mein for breakfast this morning, and Nadia didn't finish it until lunch today. Oi vey. The good news is that they used to give me grief over "impossible pies" (Bisquick recipe) and now in comparison to Chinese food they loved the impossible lasagna pie I made this week. ha ha! We have just three weeks left of school and our last three countries will be Japan, Russia, and Australia. I still give kudos to Oliver because he continues to eat 99.9% of every food offered to him and asks for seconds on the foods his siblings struggle to eat. What a blessing it is that he is such a good eater!

Enjoy the pics! I wanted to post a few extra since my mom can't make it up to see a soccer game like she has in the past. Oliver asked me this morning when he was going to see his "other Grandma" and asked me if she is feeling better yet. We pray for her multiple times a day every single day!